


The Fog of War

by Wally_Birb



Series: Smoak'd [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Adoption, Avengers Family, BAMF Felicity Smoak, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Dark Past, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Drama, Felicity Being a Genius, Felicity Smoak Has More Issues Than Vogue, Felicity Smoak is Steve Roger's and Tony Stark's daughter, Growing Up, I don't even know guys, Learning to Grow, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Team as Family, Teenage Rebellion, taken for granted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-23 16:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7471110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wally_Birb/pseuds/Wally_Birb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Felicity is five years old, arm broken, parents MIA, she runs into a hero--and that designation has nothing to do with how the blond idiot puts on a costume.</p><p>When Felicity is twenty-two years old, isolated, drowning in guilt, she runs into another hero--if one could be generous with the designation.</p><p>When Felicity is twenty-five years old, confident, heartbroken, she finds <i>another</i> hero--and this time, the hero may be exactly what she was looking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> cheesy summary is cheesy :/

_1995:_

_It was cold._

_Steve was usually cold these days, so it wasn’t like this was anything new. Just a different kind of cold. Since he’d met Tony, though, he’d been feeling altogether warmer and happier. He’d realized that part of the deep seeded chill in his bones was loneliness from waking up fifty years in the future with nearly all of the people he’d once loved dead in what only felt like a blink of his eyes._

_But this wasn’t that type of cold. Steve wasn’t lonely--though he was currently alone as he wandered around Las Vegas. Because of the serum, his body tended to run a little hot, so he knew it wasn’t the crisp Nevada winter. It was a different kind of cold. This was the chill he felt full of anticipation._

_Something was going to happen to him, he could feel it. Something life changing._

*

2010:

“I’m taking the offer from QC.” Felicity announced from across the coffee table. Tony blinked in confusion as Steve’s expression morphed into concern. The now-blonde held up a hand to stop her fathers from saying anything before she’d tried to explain. “I know that it wasn’t my fault...what happened to Cooper, or...but I need to get away from this.”

“What do you mean?” Steve whispered, hurt evident in his tone no matter how much he tried to hide it. It was always like that when Felicity was involved. The girl was too damn perceptive.

She sighed and the same guilt that had been plaguing her for a year since everything had happened played over her face for a beat before her features smoothed into a pale imitation of peace. Well, that was just one of the many things Tony had given her, Steve realized, the ability to wear a mask and trick others into thinking it was merely her skin.

“Pops, Dad…” Felicity addressed Steve, then Tony. She clenched her hands into fists in her lap, but her shoulders were forced into a relaxed position. She was scared of how they’d react, that much was evident to the couple, but they stayed silent as determination washed over her. “...I don’t want to be a hero. I don’t want to be heroic. I don’t want to be in a position where I could...I could poison that part of your life, too.”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed suddenly, his lips twisting downwards in confused disappointment. Tony, however, was less subtle. He visually startled before scoffing and shaking his head. “You have got to be kidding me, kid.”

Felicity chewed on the inside of her cheek is keep her emotions in check as she avoided eye contact with the brunet. “I killed those men.”

“They kidnapped you!” Tony bursted, his buried anger at the previous situation bubbling to the surface.

“The penalty for kidnapping is twenty years in prison with the possibility of parole.” Felicity finally looked into Tony’s eyes, her own fierce blue meeting Tony’s brown. “Depending on the severity of the charge, murder is thirty years to life with no possibility of parole. There’s a clear difference.”

“Fucking indict me,” Tony spat, leaning forward on the couch. “You weren’t charged with any crime.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not guilty!” Felicity shot back. Seeing the potential for another explosive encounter, Steve gently squeezed Tony’s shoulder.

“Sweetie, you have to understand something.” Steve focused on the worry he felt for his daughter over anything else in that moment. “We love you and we will support you no matter what you do or who you choose to be--you know this. We just don’t want you to throw away your life because of survivor’s guilt.”

Felicity’s face softened when she turned towards Steve, but the guilt and the sorrow were still there--as was the determination that Tony had blamed Steve for. “I know that, and I love you, too. But, Pops, I would think that if anyone could understand needing to get away…”

“I know, sweetie, and I do understand.” Steve stood and moved to the other side of the table to kneel in front of his daughter, sweetly grasping her hands in his. “But the reason I felt the need to run away was because I thought I was alone. And I need you to understand that as long as I’m--as long as both of us are breathing, honey, you are not alone. We want to help you. Let us help you.”

Felicity bit her bottom lip as her chin began to tremble. She looked down from Steve’s fiercely loving eyes and squeezed his hands. “I understand, but I just...I can’t do this anymore, Pops. I’m so tired. Everyday I have to fight just to face you two. I need to leave. I need to find out who I am. I need to be proud when you call me your daughter. I need to be someone who I think would make you two proud.”

“Oh honey,” Steve breathed out. She slid down onto the floor as he gathered her into his arms, Tony’s own arms soon engulfing the both of them.

“We’re already proud of you, Smokes.” Tony murmured into Felicity’s dyed hair. He hated the reason for the color, but loved how much the girl had begun to strive to look like Steve. “Don’t ever doubt that.”

“But take your time,” Steve ran a hand through the unfamiliar blonde strands. “Take your time and become someone who you’re proud of.”

*

1998:

“Honey, is there something wrong?” Steve asked as he watched Felicity, bent over a thick textbook full of coding that Steve didn’t even try to understand. She and Tony had babbled about it during breakfast as they discussed a ‘JARVIS’ project that the two of them wanted to get started on.

“It’s fine, Steve, I just…” Felicity huffed, a strand of light brown hair puffing out from in front of her face. “It keeps getting harder to read.”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed slightly and he took a look at the page. “Do you mean the language is getting too technical?”

“No, it’s not that.” Felicity flicked her hand dismissively. “It’s probably nothing, but lately I’ve been getting more advanced textbooks with smaller fonts and they’re pretty hard to understand when I’m not shoving my face into the book. Plus it feels like my vision just keeps...shifting randomly.”

Steve hummed worriedly. “I’ll get you an appointment with an eye doctor, then.”

Felicity’s head shot up as the words left Steve. She was still like this. Even after two and a half years of taking care of her, she was always surprised when she was genuinely _taken care_ of. Internally, Steve added another half hour to his gym time later to picture his image of Felicity’s father on the punching bag.

“Really?” Felicity gnawed on the inside of her cheek nervously. “I...I um- I really appreciate it, but- well, you know, it’s just that the last time I went to a doctor, my da- um, Noah, he was just really angry and the doctor kept asking all of these questions and I um- it just wasn’t an awesome experience, so I don’t- it’s just--”

Understanding the meaning behind her ramble, Steve reached out and gently ruffled Felicity’s hair, grinning down at her. “I’ll stay with you if you’re scared. You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Felicity gave him a watery smile and nodded.

*

2009:

“Rambo in the hiz-house!” Clint cheered as Felicity swept into the lab, anger hovering over her like an oppressive cloud. The dark haired woman ignored her self-proclaimed ‘big brother or weirdly hot uncle’ and leveled a heated glare at her dad, who was studiously avoiding her gaze.

“You hacked into my school records?” Felicity yelled.

“Yikes. Loud voice. I’m just gonna go leave and maybe grab Steve to handle...all...of...this…” Clint trailed off, scrambling up off of the couch in Tony’s workshop and running to the elevator.

“You _hacked_ into my _records_!” Felicity yelled once more, slamming her hand down on his work table so that he couldn’t conveniently forget about her. Tony let out a put upon sigh and looked up at her from his broken chest plate. He raised a single eyebrow and glared back at her.

“Your security is slipping. Probably because you’re spending so much time with that little cult.” Tony shot back at her. “JARVIS barely had to work to break through your coding.”

“How dare you!?” Felicity growled. “You have no idea what you’re talking about--”

“I don’t know!?” Tony shouted finally, standing to face her eye to eye. “I don’t know about how hard you’re fighting to find your ‘real’ dad!? I don’t know about you and your hactivism!? You’re not an idiot, Felicity, don’t play dumb!”

Felicity recoiled slightly. She clenched her fists by her sides and brushed away the guilt that she felt at how hurt Tony looked. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me?”

“What the fuck else was I supposed to do!?” Tony snapped as Steve stepped off of the elevator. Tony slumped in defeat as the two of them stared at their daughter. “You go out of your way to have nothing to do with us, kid.”

“Tony,” Steve spoke in a gentle tone as he looked between the two of them. He sighed and stayed at his husband’s side, silently staying loyal to Tony. “Maybe we should just calm down--”

“I need some air.” Felicity mumbled and shook her head, pacing past the two of them angrily.

Tony’s eyebrows knitted together as he watched her disappear into the elevator. Steve wordlessly wrapped his arm around Tony’s shoulder.

“Did we lose her?” Tony asked in a small voice.

Steve stayed silent.

*

_1995:_

_“Excuse me,” A voice that sounded like it was trying to cover up just how afraid it was stopped Steve as he walked down the sidewalk. He turned and found a small girl, about four or five years old, slumped against a wall and clutching what was obviously a broken arm. There was a large bump on her forehead and the skin around it and her right arm were covered in quickly purpling bruises and blood. Steve’s eyes went wide and he rushed over to her, dropping down onto his knees._

_“What happened?” He demanded from her. He gave her injuries cursory examination before looking back at her face. She had large blue eyes that were as frightened as a small animal’s during a lightning storm, but her small mouth was set in a hard line--not allowing any of the sobs that he knew were forming in her throat to escape._

_“I fell,” She told him, and with one look he could tell it was the truth. “I fell down from the fire escape. My...my mom is at work, though, and I need to go to the clinic, I think. When I tried to get up, I got really dizzy, though.”_

_Mentally, Steve revised the age of this girl. She was probably five or six. Her eyes had that same intelligence in them that Steve had seen in Howard’s and Tony’s eyes, though. Already Steve could tell that he’d met yet another person in this decade that would be able to walk circles around the bit of knowledge that the serum had enhanced in him. “Alright, you don’t need to get up. What about your dad? Where is he?”_

_The girl flinched slightly. “He...went to find my mom. He needed to tell her something.”_

_“It’s alright,” Steve felt concern for the small girl bubble up in his chest at the obvious lies about where her parents were. “Do you need me to take you to the hospital or call an ambulance.”_

_“I-” She stopped herself, looking from her injuries back to the compassionate man kneeling next to her. She thought to herself that he might be nicer than even her mom had been, but that didn’t stop her mind from reeling against the idea of trusting a stranger. “Stranger danger.”_

_Understanding dawned on Steve and his bit down on the inside of his cheek. It would really be preferable to take her to the hospital so that he wouldn’t have to leave her alone. He pursed his lips and looked at the girl for a bit before holding out his left hand for an inverted handshake in order not the bother her broken arm. “My name is Captain Steve Rogers.”_

_The girl’s lips twitched upwards slightly as she completed the handshake. “Captain Steve Rogers? Like Captain America? The superhero in New York?”_

_Steve blushed and scratched the back of his neck once he released her hand. “One and the same.” The little girl giggled slightly, but the movement jostled her arm, cutting off the musical noise with a pained gasp. “I would offer to give you a ride to the hospital, but I can’t let strangers into my car. Stranger danger, you understand.”_

_“Oh!” The girl sat up a little more. “My name’s Felicity! Felicity Smoak!”_

_“Well, Felicity,” Steve smiled gently down at her. “Do you want to be friends?” Felicity nodded excitedly. “Well then, if we’re friends, that means that we aren’t strangers anymore.”_

*

2003:

Tony scooped Felicity up into a fierce hug the moment he and Steve spotted the girl in the crowd of black robes. Steve’s arms crashed around them tightly as the two mightiest superheroes in New York cried at the sight of their little girl graduating high school.

Felicity laughed as Clint pulled Steve off of the huddle and Pepper coaxed (and Natasha threatened) Tony into letting Felicity go so that the rest of the Avengers could congratulate her.

Clint was the next to give her a hug, hoisting her up in his arms and spinning her around as he beamed at the kid he’d quickly adopted as his own pseudo little sister. She was then plucked out of his arms by Thor, who waxed poetic about genius and families made through bonds. Bruce ruffled Felicity’s hair and whispered his congratulations. Natasha pulled Felicity away from the group to hug her gently and give her a necklace with a small lotus pendant on it. And lastly, Pepper stood in front of Felicity with a serious expression.

“Sweetie,” Pepper started. “Do you remember why it took so long for your first adoption to go through?”

Felicity tilted her head. “Because we had to get my birth parents to give up their parental rights.”

Pepper nodded. “And it took us awhile to find your mother because--”

“She’d gone into WitPro.” Felicity finished.

“Exactly. Now, Donna agreed to give up her rights to you because of the circumstances, but she asked us to give you this,” Pepper held out an envelope with Felicity’s name on it. “On the day you graduate high school. Now, I’m sure she meant for this to be in five years--because it’s hard to predict that your child will be a genius--but I’m going to give it to you now.”

Felicity swallowed thickly and stared at the envelope. Pepper politely stood and walked back over the their group, where Tony, Thor, and Clint were all loudly arguing over where to eat, but Felicity could tell that Steve and Thor had heard by the looks they were shooting her way. Their looks, apparently, and Matt Murdock’s, who was standing in his robe off to the side giving her an unreadable look from behind his glasses.

Weird, Felicity thought to herself, but shook it off.

*

2012:

Steve sighed heavily as his call to Felicity went, once again, unanswered. He sat down next to Tony and looked over at him, misery coloring his face. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Did you try calling her again?” Tony put down his tools and turned to face Steve fully. Steve nodded, his pitiful puppy dog eyes looking up at Tony. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Felicity just...her situation is complicated, Steve.”

“I know that, but I just...I want her to know that she can trust us.” The blond pouted.

“She knows, and she is trying.” Tony gently rapped his fist against Steve’s shoulder. “Remember when she was in college? Felicity is genuinely busy now, not trying to keep us out of her life. Not to mention, she seems to finally be getting a hold of everything. She was kidnapped and then her boyfriend committed suicide after going down for her own crime--all in the span of a few months. That kind of thing can either leave someone broken or stronger for it.”

“I’m just-” Steve started before sighing. “I don’t want her to feel like she has to go through life alone.”

Tony tilted his head to the side and gave Steve a sad smile. “And you think I do? Part of me thinks that that girl picked up my bad habits. I think that two years ago, she was running away from everything. She was isolating herself and cutting off the people that loved her. But she’s changed since then. Her anger, her guilt...I can’t explain it, but she’s getting better. She’s learning to live with it. _She_ even called _you_ last week, Steve. She’s making progress. You can’t just force it all to happen at once.”

Steve sighed once more and nodded. “Have you two talked yet?”

“No,” Tony admitted, his eyes flitting away. “I think we’re both putting off that conversation. We both...I pushed her too hard, I think. I should’ve been more understanding, but even before the kidnapping, she was pushing me out of her life...I was so angry at her, so hurt. I took it out on her. I’m the reason that she got kidnapped that day.”

“That’s not true,” Steve argued tired.

“Maybe,” Tony shrugged. “But the point is, I hurt her even before everything went down. Bad things happening doesn’t mean that we’re magically okay.” Tony sighed. “We were so close when she was younger.”

“Birds of a feather,” Steve remarked with a wan smile. “I was terrified of the amount of trouble you two would get into together.”

Tony grinned up at his husband. “Remember that time we got kicked out of France and you basically told the British prime minister that if he had anything bad to say about your family, he could tell it to your knuckle sandwich?”

Steve blushed. “I remember you and Felicity laughing on and off for the entirety of the flight back home.”

“Do you think we could ever get back to that?” Tony asked quietly. “Back to being a family?”

“Isn’t it normal for families to grow apart?” Steve answered with yet another question. Tony huffed and leaned against Steve’s shoulder. “Besides, she agreed to come visit for Hanukkah.”

“Hanukkah, yeah.” Tony smiled faintly. “I can’t wait to see her again.”

*

1995:

_”How long have your parents been gone?” Steve asked from his place next to Felicity’s hospital bed. She’d been in there for nearing a whole day, but no one has even called the hospital looking for her. Steve had known that she was lying when she told him about where her parents were, but he didn’t think…_

_“Almost a month.” She confessed in a small voice, “Mom left a year ago and Dad wanted to go get her after his friend said he found her.”_

_Steve pursed his lips together, “Will either of them come back?”_

_Felicity shook her head. “I don’t think so.”_

_They were silent for a bit, both realizing the full extent of the situation. Steve fiddled with his hands for a bit before there was a knock on the door. They both looked up to find Tony in the doorframe of Felicity’s hospital room._

_“Imagine my surprise,” Tony crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at the two of them. “When my best friend calls me to tell me that he cut his vacation short so that he could sit at the bedside of an orphan.”_

_“I’m not an orphan,” Felicity corrected Tony. “My parents are alive, they just don’t want me.”_

_Tony raised one eyebrow higher than the other. “Is that better?”_

_“Maybe not better, but more correct.” Felicity shrugged. Tony nodded and moved to stand next to Steve, but kept his attention on her._

_“What’s your name, kid?”_

_“Felicity Smoak.”_

_“Alright, Felicity Smoak, how would you like to be the official mascot of our little superhero family?” Tony asked._

_“Did you just ask to adopt me in the worst imaginable way possible?”_

*

2013:

“Felicity Meghan Smoak, I swear to God,” Steve breathed out as he practically crushed his daughter to his chest. The news of the Undertaking had barely broke before Tony was in his suit and flying Steve to Starling. Tracking her phone, they found her in the basement of a nightclub.

“Pops?” Felicity asked, frozen by the sudden contact.

“Wherever you go, trouble follows,” Tony threw his arms hands up in the air. He spared Oliver and Diggle and glance before turning back to her. “It’s a goddamn disease, isn’t it? ‘No, Dad, I need to go away so that I can live a normal life.’ That’s what you said to me. This isn’t normal, Felicity.”

“What, like it’s my fault crazy things are happening!?” Felicity yelled back, stepping away from Steve to put her hands on her hips and glare up at him. 

“Well looking around here, you’ve gotten yourself in pretty deep with the Hood!” Tony shot back. He turned towards Oliver and Digg. “Queenie, tell me you’re the arrow guy, and I win the bet.”

Oliver looked from Iron Man to Felicity and back a few times before settling on Felicity. “What’s going on here?”

Felicity sighed heavily and gave her fathers dark looks. “Oliver, Diggle, meet my dads. Dads, these are Oliver and Diggle.”

“Dads?” Oliver echoed with a curious look on his face. Diggle snorted, looking over the small family.

“I’m John Diggle, sir.” He held out his hand to Tony’s to shake before giving Steve a sharp salute. “Captain.”

“I like him,” Tony grinned as Steve returned the salute. “Now, it’s time to get you out of here, oh pup of mine.” 

“No.” Felicity clenched her fists by her sides and looked up at them with that same determination that gave Tony a goddamn ulcer.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Tony’s voice took on a tired tone as he looked at his only daughter doing a damn good impression of Captain America.

“Oliver, Digg, don’t you two have somewhere to be?” Digg raised his eyebrows in amusement at the clear dismissal. Oliver pursed his lips and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before grabbing his duffle with all of his Hood necessities.

“I’ll call Lance and get him on board.” Oliver assured her quietly before he and Digg left.

Steve looked between Tony’s unhappy expression and Felicity’s unwavering one. Letting out a sigh, he turned to Felicity. “You have a plan, don’t you?”

“Of course she does,” Tony threw his arms in the air at Felicity’s answering nod. “Both of you are giving me grey hairs!”

“We know where the earthquake machine is,” Felicity ignored Tony and addressed Steve, which seemed to be the better route. “I’m going to talk an...ally through dismantling it, but I need my equipment here in order to do that. I’m staying. But, we could use some familiar, hopeful faces to help with the evacuation.”

Steve’s lips quirked up into a smile. Tony looked at the both of them as if they were crazy. “I guess the leader of the Avengers is taking orders from his _daughter_ , now. Whatever.”

“It’s a sound plan!” Steve defended himself. Felicity laughed at the two of them, making the couple freeze. They hadn’t heard that sound in so long--even at Hanukkah, Felicity had been smiling but laughing that honestly? They hadn’t heard that laugh in at least three years.

Steve smiled gently down at her before pulling her close and kissing the top of her head. “I’m so proud of you.”

Felicity grinned widely up at him and nodded. “Thanks, Pops.”

“You gotta be careful, little Pup,” Tony gave her an affectionate look. “You’re getting dangerously close to hero territory.”

Felicity looked around her and smiled wryly. “Maybe...maybe I can. Be a hero, I mean. Right the wrongs that I did before. Help people. I haven’t fucked it up, yet.”

“Hey, watch your fucking language.” Tony teased her and pulled her into a gentle hug--mindful of the armor. “We’ll go help evacuate, but listen here, Smokes, you get yourself out if this goes sideways.”

“I promise.” Felicity nodded and extracted herself from his arms. She smiled up at both of them. “I love you guys.”

“We love you, too.” Steve’s smile stretched across his entire face and Tony had rarely seen it so adorable. “Always have, always will. Nothing will change that.”

“Ditto.” Tony quipped before looking at Steve. “Now, we have our marching orders. Let’s go.”


	2. 2. Working On It pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the first half of season 2 with the revisions to the story. Said revisions include: Felicity refuses the job as Oliver's EA and becomes the head of Applied Sciences instead, Oliver and Felicity establish more of a friendship in talking to each other, Tony has hidden cameras in the lair, getting kidnapped by the Count is more triggering for Felicity, Steve and Quentin Lance are pals, and Steve is around when all of the shit with Cyrus Gold and Barry Allen goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously I didn't write the entirety of the episodes, but I did write the points that I felt would've been drastically changed or that people would want to see. It's not too drastically different except for the beginning which is changed to be 1) more in character (for both this Felicity and canon Felicity tbh) 2) be more of a growth opportunity for both Felicity and Oliver and 3) provide more of a driving force behind Isabel's bitchiness towards Felicity

2.

“I quit.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.” Felicity moved in front of Oliver and grabbed her arm to stop him, anger radiating off of her. “Not my old job, in the IT department, but my new job as your executive assistant, which you _think_ I’m going to accept. Your thinking could not be more wrong in this matter.”

“I need--”

“Yeah, I’m sure _you_ do!” Felicity shouted over him, a firm frown on her lips. Digg looked between them, Oliver’s face colored in surprise and Felicity’s in her own fury. “But _this_ is my career, Oliver! I worked hard on this--building something outside of my family that I could call my own! You don’t know anything about that time in my life because I don’t want you to, and there is a lot that I would give up for you and our mission, but _not this_!”

Oliver blinked dumbly down at Felicity, but she wasn’t done.

“You don’t get to make decisions for me, Oliver! You don’t get to make decisions for me, Digg, Thea, or Roy! You get to make decisions for exactly one person: yourself! Which shouldn’t be too hard for your because you’re so goddamn self absorbed that you can’t pull your head out of your ass long enough to tell what’s important to the people around you and what’s changed!” Felicity took in a deep breath and held it for a beat before clenching her jaw. 

“If you had asked, or if this was anything else, I’d do whatever was necessary, but not this time. I’m going to find out how the hijackers are getting a line on the goods earmarked for Glades Memorial. And then I’m going to do my damn job, and if you have a problem, find another fucking IT girl!”

Oliver and Digg both watched as Felicity stormed out of the office and back over to the bank of elevators. Digg looked down at the ground to hide his amused look, but Oliver was rather open about his confused one.

“What just happened?” Oliver asked.

“You stepped over the line,” Digg answered. “And Felicity drop kicked your ass back into your own lane.”

“I didn’t know…” Oliver trailed off. “I had no idea her job meant that much to her.”

Digg shrugged. “She doesn’t like to talk about it, man. But you could’ve figured it out if you ever had a conversation with her about something other than your nightly activities. I know it sounds stupid, but a good way to get to know someone is to talk to them.”

“Felicity and I talk.”

Diggle snorted. “Whatever you say, man.”

*

“We need to compromise,” Oliver announced after Diggle had left the Foundry that night. He sat down across from Felicity as she turned her chair to pay attention to him. “We need secret identities now, and if I’m going to be Oliver Queen, CEO--”

“Digg’s right it is super creepy when you talk about yourself in the third person,” Felicity quipped, her icy mood not having warmed much even after Digg had admitted to Oliver actually talking with him about Carly and everything. Oliver let out a breathy laugh and shook his head before looking at her instead of his own clasped hands.

“If I’m going to be a CEO,” He continued patiently. “I can’t travel down 18 floors every time we need to discuss how we spend our nights.”

Felicity pursed her lips in thought, nodding to herself absentmindedly. “Did you check the open positions within my field?”

“I did, and I’ve come up with some options.” The corner of Oliver’s mouth ticked up into a hopeful smile. “The head of Applied Sciences was fired and arrested after the Undertaking, which means that there have been many interviews to fill the position. Walter had a shortlist of people he felt deserved a more prominent place within the company and most of them have been interviewed, but your name seems to have been ignored. I want to bring you in for an interview and then, hopefully, get this done the right way.”

Felicity smiled gratefully at Oliver. She looked around the Foundry and blinked away tears. Oliver tilted his head as he took her in. “I...took a look at your employment records, Felicity, and I think you know what I noticed. You’ve been offered promotions like this multiple times since you’ve proven yourself within the company.”

“I have, yeah,” Felicity nodded.

“You asked me to talk to people, Felicity. Here I am, talking to you.” Oliver huffed at her tacit response. “Let me understand what’s going on here.”

She fiddled with her bracelet nervously before nodding again. “Oliver, you have to understand that I’m not ready to share most of that yet. What I can tell you is what I told Digg: when I was 18 and 19, I had a really shitty couple of years. Bad things happened to mean and people around me who I loved. After I graduated, I wanted distance to become a person that I could be happy with, and that distance started at QC. I promised myself that I would take the job and move up the ladder as I grew as a person, and I don’t think that I’ve grown.”

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion at the thought of Felicity not being proud of who she was, but understood better than he wanted to. He pressed his lips together and looked down at his hands.

“Felicity, I don’t know whatever person you were before,” He admitted slowly. “But you are one of the strongest and smartest women I’ve ever met. You have more reasons than most to be proud of who you are.”

She huffed out a laugh and looked up at the ceiling. “It’s weird to be on the receiving end of a pep talk down here.”

“I’m not used to it, either.” Oliver shrugged and gave her a small smile.

“I’ll take it. The interview.” Felicity decided. “But I’ll only take the position if you genuinely believe that I’m the most suited for it.”

“Done.” Oliver smiled at her and stood. “I need to head to the office. You should go home. Get some rest.”

“I will,” Felicity promise. “I just need to finish this up.”

*

 _“That was adorable,”_ Tony declared over the phone, making Felicity roll her eyes.

“I knew it. I knew you wired the lair. Where are they?” Felicity asked.

_“My dear, dear pup, I have bestowed upon you many of my tricks, but you will never outfox me.”_

“Don’t make me tell Pops about 2008.”

Felicity could practically hear Tony freezing on the other end of the line. _“You wouldn’t dare.”_

“Wouldn’t I?” Felicity asked innocently.

 _“Okay, okay, you win.”_ Tony surrendered. _“You spent too much time with Clint and Natasha growing up. They were bad influences.”_

Felicity laughed and shook her head. “Oh, and you weren’t? You and Pops weren’t exactly the picture perfect model for problem solving. Using what I learned from you two, I punched a bully who was twice my size when I was 12 and already getting picked on.”

_“If memory serves, that guy was picking on a blind kid who then became your best friend throughout high school, so you’re welcome. Besides, that’s way more your Pops’ influence.”_

_“What was my influence?”_ Steve asked as he walked into Tony’s lab. _“Are you on the phone with Felicity?”_

_“Yeah, I called her to make it clear that I don’t approve of Dunce Queen. We got sidetracked talking about that time you made Pup punch a bully thrice her size on her second day of school AKA how Felicity met her best friend.”_

_“First of all, I didn’t make her do anything. Second of all, I told her that that is not how we solve problems. Third of all, her right hook knocked out one of his teeth, and Happy taught her that, so by the transitive property, Happy hit that kid. Fourth of all, did you know Matt became a lawyer?”_

_“No shit. Hey, Pup, maybe you can date him instead of Dunce.”_ Tony turned back to his conversation with his daughter. _“Lawyers may not make as much money as CEOs, but let’s be honest, they make enough and Oliver won’t last as a CEO.”_

*

“Felicity Smoak, you make me worry.” Steve announced as he wrapped his arms around his daughter the second the elevator opened up to reveal her and Oliver. “You can’t just drop off the grid again! I thought--!”

“Pops!” Felicity yelled, glancing over at Oliver nervously. She hoped, internally, that Steve hadn’t heard their exchange and that he wouldn’t reveal more about her past than she was ready for Team Arrow to know. “Why don’t we get some coffee! I can take a break, my boss is super lenient because he’s always late!”

Felicity plastered on a fake enthusiastic smile and very carefully refused to look back at Oliver as he looked away from the pair. Steve looked between them and frowned protectively at Oliver.

“Yeah, coffee with my little girl--the light of my life who I would do anything for--sounds good.” Steve waxed poetically and pointedly at Oliver’s turned face. He felt a slight confusion when the corner of Oliver’s mouth ticked upward in a smile. For a minute, he allowed himself to think that Oliver believed he could beat Captain America before dismissing that thought as too stupid even for man nicknamed ‘Dunce’ in his husband’s mind. It almost looked like Oliver was...happy that Steve was there for Felicity.

He didn’t know how to feel about that realization, but given the way Felicity looked a second from crying, he knew that he wasn’t feeling too forgiving in his impression of Mr. Queen anytime soon. He gently wrapped his arm around Felicity’s shoulders and drew her into the elevator, absentmindedly regaling her with the story of Thor’s latest visit.

“Okay, sweetie, what happened?” Steve asked as they both sat down in a cafe with their mugs full of coffee in hand. Felicity seemed to deflate slightly, but stayed silent. “Your dad and I were worried. You’ve been so good at calling once a week that when you stopped suddenly, we didn’t know what to think. We called your office and your assistant said that you were out for a few days without notice. The last time you missed work was when you were--”

“I know.” Felicity cut him off again. “And I promise, if I ever get kidnapped again, I’ll make sure you know. I have Digg locked and loaded to alert you guys if anything horrible happens to me. And that’s just for if I’m not okay enough to tell you myself, which I probably will be.”

“So where were you? The flight log on your plane--a worried Tony does not respect privacy, you know this--said Russia, which I know can’t be true because you vowed to never step foot in that country again after your fourth visit because, and I’m quoting, ‘horrible things happen every time I go to Russia’.”

“Well, a horrible did happen.” Felicity shrugged. “Digg’s ex-wife was captured while on assignment from ARGUS trying to crack a case involving the whereabouts of Deadshot, an assassin who killed John’s brother. ARGUS couldn’t make any moves to rescue her, so Oliver, Digg, and I all went to Russia to do it ourselves.”

Steve let out a breath and tapped his mug. “Is she okay?”

“Of course she is.” Felicity flashed her father a true smile. “I think I might’ve made a friend, too. Lyla is incredibly strong and brave. I imagine that it would take a lot more than a Russian prison to keep her down.”

“Reminds me of someone I know.” Steve smiled at his daughter. He reached across the table and tapped the back of her hand gently. “So what’s wrong?”

Felicity looked down into her coffee and smiled wryly. “It’s stupid. I think I’m beginning to...like Oliver.”

Steve nodded encouragingly, but stayed silent.

“Which is hard enough in and of itself, but Oliver is a horrible person to like like this.” Felicity sighed heavily and put her forehead in her hand. “And it’s not just that, it’s...you know that feeling? That anger that you feel when you know that someone is a horrible person but everyone around you just shrugs off your judgement? Imagine that times a thousand, and that’s how furious you feel when the person that you’re beginning to like...fondues with said horrible person.”

“Okay, I’m following you, but I thought you said that Lyla was good?”

“No, she definitely is. Diggle wouldn’t fall in love with anyone who wasn’t.” Felicity assured him. “No, I’m talking about Isabel Rochev, his business partner. Oliver’s, not Digg’s.”

Steve nodded and leaned back in his seat. “You don’t trust this woman?”

“Not even as far as I could throw her.” Felicity affirmed. “I can’t put my finger on why, though. It’s a mixture of instinct and the way she’s singled me out and targeted me in the office. Talk about a hostile work environment.”

“Has she threatened you?” Steve asked, becoming more alert.

“No, Pops, you can put away your protective side.” Felicity smiled. “It’s a professional women kind of hatred. There’s not a lot of powerful women in business, so those who are tend to tear down other instead of helping them. Like they feel more competitive against women.”

Steve frowned and weighed his thoughts before speaking carefully. “Wouldn’t that be counter productive, though?”

“Well, look at our floor, Pops.” Felicity brought up a drawing pad on her tablet and divided her screen into three sections. “Isabel wants the company, all of it. But, she only owns half. The two heads of the company are herself and Oliver. Even though I’m just the head of AS, I basically make all of Oliver’s decisions for him because he’s helpless and has no idea how to be a CEO. I tell him what to do, and he does it. 

“Now, Isabel knows exactly who makes the decisions. It isn’t Oliver ‘Dunce’ Queen, it’s another professional woman who rose through the ranks and has collected respect and power. I’m a threat to her in a way that Oliver really isn’t. If I was gone, Oliver would either have to rely on his on business acumen or what Isabel believes is best.” Felicity layered the page with just Oliver and Isabel’s names, but divided it so that Isabel had way more than half of the company. “This would effectively make Isabel the sole CEO. Going after me is strategic, but I don’t trust people who tear others down to get ahead.”

“She’s a bully,” Steve frowned.

“She is.” Felicity closed her tablet and smirked at her father. “But I’m pretty good at standing up to those.”

*

“Hey, remember how I told you that I’d let you know if I got kidnapped?” Felicity spoke shakily into her phone, making Steve curse and turn his motorcycle around back towards the city.

 _“I’ll be there in five minutes, sweetie.”_ Steve promised, cursing himself for letting this happen again. _“Where are you?”_

“Qu-Queen Consolidated.” Felicity swallowed thickly. “I’m with Detective Lance, giving my statement.”

 _“Are you okay? Physically?”_ Steve asked. Felicity sniffed and nodded before remembering that she was on the phone.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. He- Pops, he’s dead.”

Steve swore and broke every traffic law in existence racing towards his daughter. He made the ten minute drive in under five and practically flew off of his bike and over to his daughter, who was sitting in the back of an ambulance talking to a uniformed police officer.

“Sweetie!” Steve yelled and ducked under the crime scene tape to run to her and pull her into a strong hug. The police officer stepped back in surprise, but his daughter latched unto him as tightly as he held her. He buried his hand into her hair and let her cry into his shoulder silently for a minute before looking over at the officer. “Thank you for taking care of my daughter.”

“Daughter?” The officer echoed, eyebrows raised.

Steve frowned protectively. “Yes, daughter.”

“Sorry, it’s just,” The officer mouth shrugged and gestured at himself. “I have a daughter her age and I show the age a bit more than you do. You have a great girl, though. I can’t imagine her being especially rebellious or stressful, so I guess it makes sense.”

Felicity huffed out a laugh and pulled away, wiping tear tracks off of her cheeks until the officer offered her a tissue. “Thank you, Detective Lance, but you’d be surprised.”

“This is Detective Lance?” Steve asked Felicity, earning a nod. He stuck out his hand and gave the other man a grateful look. “I’m Steve Rogers. Thank you so much for all you’ve done to help my baby girl. She admires you, which makes you a good man in my book.”

“Quentin Lance--Officer, not a detective anymore,” Quentin took Steve’s hand automatically. “Steve Rogers? As in Captain America?”

“Yes sir.” Steve nodded.

Quentin chuckled and shook his head, turning to Felicity. “You lead an interesting life, little girl.”

“Thank you,” Felicity whispered and hugged Quentin quickly. “For calming me down earlier.”

“Hey, I don’t need to know your story to know that you’re the good sort. You mean as much to me as either of my daughters and I wouldn’t want them to deal with this alone.” Lance assured her. “I’ll call you if we need anything, but this case is pretty open and shut. Go home and get some rest, Felicity. Take good care of her, Captain.”

“You don’t need to tell me.” Steve looked down at Felicity and led her over to his bike. “I’ll stay for the next couple of days, if you want. I know that this...can’t be easy to go through again.”

“I need to stop by the lair to check on Digg.” Felicity answered. “After that, I may need to...talk.”

Steve’s heart soared as he witnessed the progress his daughter had made since those few years ago when this had happened the first time. He had been worried, oh so goddamn worried, that this experience would push her back into that angry person she used to be, but here she was in front of him: the Felicity Smoak who was stronger than he’d want to test.

“Whenever you need me,” Steve promised in a small voice. “That goes for me and your dad. Whenever you need us, we’ve got you. We’re family.”

“Family,” Felicity echoed with a watery smile.

*

“You might wanna fill our mutual friend in on this,” Lance spoke softly to Felicity away from the group at the Applied Sciences break in. “Or maybe this is more your father’s field of expertise.”

“Don’t worry.” Felicity assured him. “I’m sure they’re already on it.”

“And you?” Quentin lowered his voice even more. “You were pretty shaken up after everything.”

Felicity let her smile drop to allow Lance to see her honest fear. “I was just...reminded of past experiences that I’ve been trying to forget.”

“Maybe that’s the problem, sweetheart.” Lance quently squeezed Felicity’s shoulder. “You can’t just forget the past, you need to come to terms with it. If you ever need an ear of someone outside of your situation, I’d be happy to listen.”

“Thank you, Detective. I might just take you up on that. Maybe...the next time Sara’s in town we can all go out for dinner and I can tell both of you.” Felicity suggested, earning a genuine smile from the gruff man.

“I’m glad that you two are friends.”

“Getting there. I want to be her friend, but I don’t wanna push.”

Lance shook his head slightly. “Nah, push away. She appreciates it.”

“Felicity?” Digg called her over. “Can you take a look at this?”

“Duty calls,” Felicity stepped away from Lance and waved slightly.

*

 _“Did you see that meet cute in the footage I sent you?”_ Tony gushed to Steve. _“I like this Blueberry guy. Finally someone who’s smart enough to keep up with our little girl.”_

“Tony,” Steve laughed. “You are incredibly invested in our daughter’s romantic life.”

_“I want to make sure that she gets the best out of her choice. I like this guy for her. They’d make us the most adorable, dorky, awkward grandbabies! They’d be smart, too! So unlike the Dunce who decided to challenge someone with super strength without even asking you to copilot.”_

“Well, we’re working together now.”

Tony snorted, _“That’s because Felicity used her Loud Voice.”_

“He deserved it.” Steve shrugged.

 _“Harsh words from the American Dream.”_ Tony cackled before sobering. _“You got this?”_

“Yeah, Tony, don’t worry.” Steve spoke softly. “I’ll keep her safe.”

_“I know you will. I love you.”_

“Love you, too.”

*

“Okay, so your boss is the Arrow by night,” Barry started, a giddy grin on his face. “And a billionaire by day. Your dad is a billionaire and a vigilante who wears a flying suit of armor that he invented in his teens while being held captive. And your pops is a historical figure, the first superhero ever, a borderline mythological hero who fought nazis in World War II and miraculously lived in an iceberg for like 40 years.”

“...yup.” Felicity popped the end of the word.

Barry stared at her in awe. “You’re awesome.”

Felicity blushed and laughed lightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, well, I'm still not really back. I'm coming off of my hiatus slowly because of personal issues and of course because wisdom tooth removal did not go as planned and I have been recovering from that botched bullshit for a week so far. (Seriously, it looks like I was punched in the face, which is a shame because my face is usually so pretty.) But yeah, not really back yet, but I'm getting there, so have patience with me pretty please.
> 
> Anyway see the RNC and DNC though? Comedy goldmine and terribly frightening all at the same time.


	3. We All Need Therapy, But Maybe Family Will Help Until Then

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the big canon-defying changes in this one is that Felicity tells the motherfucking truth to the people that need to fucking hear it AKA Thea
> 
> She tells Thea about Malcolm and later Slade. This means that Thea doesn't get kidnapped by Slade. They don't realize that Isabel is evil until she attacks Felicity for finding out about her suspicious ties to Shado Co. and tries to kill her, but I wasn't really able to write that scene so fuck it.
> 
> Sara and Oliver also don't get together, because that shit was just unhealthy coping. Instead, Oliver and Digg bond (offscreen) and Felicity and Tony and Sara bond (and probably Lance also, offscreen)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, Tony leaves right after his last scene with Felicity because Steve calls with news that Fury is dead and thus CA:TWS happens with Tony right there with Nat and Steve.
> 
> ALSO also, I made Felicity's relationship with Oliver purely platonic. Like, she gets over her crush and realizes that she only wants to be his friend. Not even kidding. I like it better when they're supportive Platonic Life Partners who love each other and want the best for each other in a FRIEND way. Like a friend that would be down if you asked to make out but still JUST a friend.
> 
> GET READY FOR SOME DAD FEELS

2.5

“People are dying. So I would like you to pull your head out of Central City and get back in the game,” Oliver spoke matter of factly at Felicity as she stood, both of them glaring at each other. Felicity stepped forward, her dangerously slow and determined movements getting tracked by Diggle and Tony, who were both in the corner of the Foundry watch the two blonds fight.

“Sure, right after you get yours out of your ass!” Felicity hissed back, earning a juvenile exclamation of ‘OOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!’ from her father.

“Excuse me?” Oliver’s voice dropped to a more measured tone of anger as he stepped forward as well--neither of them well equipped to actually turn away from an argument.

“They call her Smoak ‘cause that’s all you can smell after she _burns_ you!” Tony cooed proudly, his eyes still narrowed in Oliver’s direction. Diggle closed his eyes for a beat, mentally praying for strength.

“Alright, maybe we should just take a breath here.” Digg suggested, internally wishing that SHIELD hadn’t called Steve away just before Felicity had returned from Central. Having the founding members of the Avengers at their backs was an amazingly secure feeling, and Tony was a genius at everything he did, but…

Well, if Steve Rogers was a calm ocean with the potential for a hurricane, Tony was a vast desert. No matter where you were, the winds bit at you, the heat punished you, and that was at his calmest. The only way to go from there involved sandstorms and tornadoes.

Ironic, if you considered each man’s origin stories.

“No,” Felicity answered Digg without taking her glare off of Oliver--and Lord, Digg could see her father had the same stubborn glare as his daughter and if he hadn’t had proof of Felicity’s background before, he could see it now, clear as day. “I wanna know what exactly was that crack about Central City meant to imply?”

“When the first bomb went off, you weren’t here,” Oliver started. Tony’s anger intensified as the expression of guilt flashed across Felicity’s face at his words. “When the second bomb went off, you sent me the wrong way.”

“After _you_ didn’t catch him in the first place!” Felicity yelled, her hands balled into furious fists that Tony recognized quite well. 

“Don’t _blame me_ ,” Oliver spat out. “Because you didn’t have it tonight.”

Looking between where Oliver was looming over her and where Digg and Tony were sitting, Felicity clenched her jaw and pushed past Oliver, excusing herself for some air.

“Alright, what the fuck do you think you just did?” Tony growled, hopping off the med table to stride over to Oliver, his glare matching the ferocity of Felicity’s. “My hearing must be going because it _sounded like_ you just blamed _Felicity_ for the mad bomber killing people! Like she doesn’t already carry more guilt than she needs to! Who do you think you are!?”

“At the risk of getting my head knocked off,” Digg interrupted them. “Playing the blame game isn’t going to help us catch this guy.”

“Neither is doing things halfway.” Oliver spoke in stilted words.

“Is that what you think is going on here, Oliver?” Digg spoke over Tony’s outraged squawked. _The audacity of some people._ “You think she was distracted? That she wasn’t giving it her all?”

Oliver pursed his lips a Diggle and held onto his anger, “She almost ran me into a bus. What do you think?”

“I think you didn’t have a problem with Felicity’s performance until she met Barry Allen.”

“And I think,” Tony began in a deceptively calm voice--another habit that Felicity had picked up from this man, apparently. “That you know jackshit about my daughter if you think she’d ever half ass it when lives are at stake.”

*

“I’m gonna kill him, Steve, I swear to God.” Tony ranted over to the phone to his husband.

_“I thought you said that they made up. I saw the footage. He wasn’t...too horrible.”_

“Got too goddamn grabby with my daughter.” The genius grumbled. “God, it’s like he knows jack shit about who Felicity actually is. All he sees is the blonde and the sass and none of what’s hiding underneath that.”

There was a hum from the other end of the line. _“He’s probably realized that she’s been through some shit, but, Tony, if Felicity wanted these people to know everything about her, she’d tell them.”_

“Yeah,” Tony sighed. “You’re right.”

 _“I usually am.”_ Steve teased. _“Besides, I seem to remember that you weren’t exactly a perfect gentleman when you were still trying to deny that you had feelings for me.”_

“I have feelings for you? Since when?”

Steve laughed and Tony could see the blond shaking his head in his mind’s eye. God, Steve had been so morose after Felicity had practically run away. Tony could hate Oliver for a lot of things, but deep down he knew that he was indebted to that man and his mission for bringing Steve and Tony back their daughter. They had only just started rebuilding their relationship and already, Tony could see the differences in all three of them.

He’d always loved his daughter and always would. She had wormed her way into his heart the first time she had corrected him and the day she asked Tony is she could have two dads, he’d melted. He’d had no choice but to confirm, because even if Tony and Steve had been dancing around each other at the time, there was no denying that they were the driving influences in her life.

Technically, Felicity had been fostered by Tony before she even left her hospital bed the first day Tony had met her. Steve had told Tony that he wanted to find her a home and that should that fail, he wanted her to have a liable excuse to inherit the trust fund that Tony had started up that he thought Steve didn’t know about. In the beginning, Felicity had been so fucking withdrawn. She would barely speak to them, and would often wander around the tower aimlessly or hide in the library, her nose buried in a book.

The thing that Tony is most proud of in his life isn’t Iron Man, it isn’t his contribution to the clean energy market, it isn’t his sobriety, it isn’t even marrying Steve--though that is a close second. No, the thing that Tony is most proud of is that his lab made Felicity Smoak feel at ease from the very first time he let her hobble up onto his workbench and watch him tinker.

It was what the two of them had bonded over. Steve and felicity had an emotional bond from the beginning that Tony was, frankly, jealous of, but it took years before Felicity was really comfortable being herself around him. In her mind, Steve pulled her from the gutter. She was so scared for so long that he’d realize his “mistake” so she always tried to only show him the best parts of herself.

But Tony was an unmitigated ass who Felicity wasn’t worried about impressing. She would sit next to him for hours silently, her eyes watching every move his hands would make while he would sit there babbling and tinkering. It started out because he was slightly uncomfortable with her heavy gaze, but after a while he discovered that Felicity was a good listener.

Hell, Felicity knew about Tony’s feelings for Steve before Tony did. She was the one who keyed him into his own feelings 

Felicity was the person in this world that he loved the most. He would give his life for her a thousand times over. They understood each other for so long. Weird geniuses who came from horrible backgrounds but found a family because of Steve Fucking Rogers.

And then the letter from her mother came along and Tony could honestly fight Donna Smoak every time he thinks about it. The way the woman had made Felicity feel like she couldn’t trust Tony or Steve--like she’d been taken from her family and then the Avengers had pressured Donna and Noah to give up their parental rights.

It was some first class bullshit and emotional manipulate if anyone had ever done it.

Thus, she went down the road in college that fueled her anger and allowed her to rebell. And in her rebellion, she’d turned the heads of some serious people.

People who kidnap. People who deserved what they’d gotten--what Felicity had given to them, because that girl had a more brilliant head on her shoulders than Tony ever did and training from a very overprotective Pops and Aunt Natasha.

If their relationship was strained before the kidnapped (understatement) it was nonexistent afterwards. Felicity changed her hair and style, finished her degree silently, and moved to the other side of the country.

Tony wished so desperately that he could’ve helped her more, but he knew not to push. They understood each other. Two broken geniuses who came from a horrible background who didn’t believe that they ever deserved the love of some blond asshole who told them that they could do better.

And maybe that was why Tony didn’t like Oliver. Maybe he just wasn’t ready to let his little girl go. But he had a feeling that he just couldn’t shake, because he understood Oliver, too. Honestly, out of all of Team Arrow, Oliver was the biggest mix of Tony and Steve. He had Steve’s looks and Tony’s fucked up life--without the booze, thank _gods_. But he knew Oliver as well as he knew himself and he _knew_ that that man would hurt his baby girl without even realizing it before it was too late.

 _“Hey,”_ Steve’s quiet voice pulled Tony out of his thoughts. _“I think I lost you. Where’d you just go?”_

“Just...thinkin’.” Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This whole ‘sobriety’ thing is a lot harder with you on the other side of the country playing lapdog for SHIELD while I’m stuck babysitting a bored billionaire with a sob story and a mother I would very much like to punch with my daughter who’s actively avoiding speaking with me even though we both know we need to.”

There was a pause on Steve’s end, and Tony could _feel_ the asshole sending his love over the phone. _“I know you hate doing it, but you might need to pull the ‘dad’ card to get Felicity to listen to you.”_

“Last time I did that, she did that thing with her face like she was angry and sad and disappointed in me! I still have nightmares about it!” Tony whined.

_“She was nine years old, Tony.”_

“She’s was a deadly nine year old!”

*

When Sara came back into town, she broke into Felicity’s apartment to find a middle-aged man poking through Felicity’s things while the computer genius herself was, undoubtedly, sleeping. So, Sara did what any trained assassin would do.

She had the man with a goatee on his knees on the ground, twisting her arm behind his back before Felicity even heard enough sounds to draw her out of her room.

“Dad? I thought--” She started to say before taking in the scene in front of her and bursting out into peals of laughter.

“Really, Smoakie? Is this how you’re going to treat your dear old dad!?” Tony demanded in a huff. “You have betrayed House Stark! You’re fired!”

“I never took a job with you,” Felicity reminded him with a raised eyebrow before addressing Sara with her next comment, calmly wiping tears from her eyes. “You can let go of him. I assume you’re here about Laurel?”

Sara took in Felicity’s relaxed posture before releasing the man--her dad, who was very familiar looking. “Yeah, I am. I was wondering if you could give me an unbiased rundown.”

“That I can.” Felicity nodded.

“If you want Iron Man’s opinion, your sister needs an AA meeting or six.” Tony noted. “It’s hard enough kicking addiction. Maybe don’t just blast your way into her life.”

“I’m kinda outta options,” Sara side-eyed Tony. “Iron Man? As in Tony Stark?”

“The one and only.”

“I thought you’d be taller.”

“Yuck it up.” Tony glared down at her as Felicity snorted. “I’m a better billionaire parent than Moira, at least.”

“Still shorter than her.” Sara pointed out innocently. As if Sara ever did anything innocently. “And you have no chance of being mayor of New York. Those people are sane.”

“Babe, you did not just call New Yorkers sane,” Felicity snorted. 

*

“So I looked into it myself, because...full disclosure, I don’t trust you.” Felicity reminded herself that she held all of the cards here as she stared down at Moira and continued to tell her what she’d found, ending with the truth bomb. “Merlyn is Thea’s father.”

Moira stood and looked at Felicity with a fierce expression on her face. The face that hid the brain that’d been half at fault for the deaths of over 500 people. “I can see why Walter and Oliver have such a high appraisal of your abilities. So, what are you going to do with this information? Felicity?”

The hacker reminded herself to seem unassuming--years of training from Natasha echoing in her head. _People will underestimate you. You’re a small woman, and now blonde. It’s a good thing. Make them think you’re harmless. Then, once their guard is down? Strike._ She turned to where Moira had ended to turnabout with a small, nervous smile. “I don’t know, confronting you in your living room was as far as my plan went.”

Moira looked her up and down and turned away dismissively. _Ah_ , Felicity realized, _she thinks she can control me, too._

“I thought you deserved the chance to tell Thea yourself. Both of them, actually. They deserve to hear it from you.” Felicity called after Moira as she walked away, steel entering her tone.

“I’m not going to tell my children anything.” Moira declared, turning back towards Felicity. “And neither are you. If you won’t keep my secret for Oliver’s sake, you should keep it for your own. I see the way you look at him. If you tell him this, you will rip his world apart. And a part of him will always blame you. Oh, he’ll hate me for sure. But, he will hate you, too. We all have to keep secrets Miss Smoak.”

Felicity raised a single eyebrow. 

_Strike_

“I don’t think you understand me, Moira. This wasn’t a negotiation. This was a courtesy. I owe much to your son and his friendship means the world to me, but this isn’t about me. I appreciate the worry, but I stand by the truth because it _will_ come out either way.” Felicity answered, her tone deliberate soft to make make Moira listen, but filled with the iron that her fathers instilled in her.

And with that, she left.

*

She decided to tell Thea and Oliver at the same time. After the rally, she’d told herself. She hadn’t taken into account that Oliver would notice her behavior. Sure, Digg, Sara, and Dad had all asked her if she was okay, but Oliver had kept his tongue.

That is, until he pulled her aside just before he was about to speak.

“Felicity? Fe-lic-ity?” The way he drug out the vowels of her name was almost a comfort, but one she knew she didn’t deserve. He held her elbow and stood in front of her, quietly demanding and comforting. Her best friend. “What is going on with you? And don’t say--”

“Nothing,” Felicity breathed out, a line so rehearsed Digg would’ve given her The Look.

“Don’t say nothing!” Oliver quietly finished, his expression concerned, but stern. “The truth, please.”

“You might’ve noticed that I talk a lot,” Felicity started.

“It has not escaped my attention.” Sensing that she was on the verge of something, Oliver tried to lighten the mood which...wow, he sucked at. But the fact that he tried made it all the harder. 

“You also might’ve noticed that I don’t...talk a lot...about my birth family.” She finished, his face switching from stern to downfallen.

“I have noticed that.”

“My mother was...she was...my mother.” Felicity looked away and swallowed. Oliver nodded, understanding and encouragement all in one. “And my father...wasn’t a father. He wasn’t much of anything. I don’t remember a lot of what happened, either I was too young or a blocked it out or...whatever. But eventually one year my mother got tired of getting the crap beat out of her and didn’t come home, and my dad forgot to come home in between going out and I was just...alone. And I don’t...I can’t really muster up a lot to remember and care about them now, but I found Steve because I fell and I had broken my arm. But...the thing is, my arm was completely numb compared to how much it _hurt_ to be alone. How much it hurt when they left.”

Oliver opened his mouth slightly and looked down at her. She could his empathy and sympathy--rage at a father not worth the title and sorrow for a kid who grew up too soon, too alone, in too much pain.

“And just the thought,” She continued. “Of losing someone that important to me, again--”

“Hey,” Oliver interrupted her, confused and careful as he held her arms to comfort her. Whatever he saw in her expression must’ve been worrying, if his wrinkled eyebrows said anything. “You’re not gonna lose me. What ‘hurt’ is this bothering you? Is it- is it about your family?”

And, _god_ she could burst into tears right there. She didn’t think she could ever stop loving him, but Barry being around had taught her the difference between how she felt about Oliver and romantic feelings. Sure, Oliver was hot, but looking up at him, she knew that he was her _best friend_. She wanted to protect him, and she loved him but only in the same vein as she loved Diggle. Platonic life partners, Sara had called them before.

Team Arrow, her platonic life partners. She never wanted to lose them because they meant the world to her, but she would _not_ be a pawn in Moira’s game.

“No,” She gathered herself. “It’s about yours. But I need you to promise me that you’ll let me tell Thea as well, because this isn’t about me or you or Moira, it’s her right to know.”

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows but nodded seriously, ready to do anything he could to take the hurt off of Felicity’s face.

*

Coming home to her dad after telling Thea Queen about hers was exactly what she needed.

“Dad,” Felicity whispered out, pulling Tony’s attention away from his computer on the kitchen counter--because he refused to sit like a normal person.

“Just a second, baby girl, I need to--” He started before he was cut off by Felicity’s thin arms wrapping around his middle and clinging to him in a hug. He blinked down at her in surprise, but quickly got with the picture, pulling her against him tightly. He never turned down a Felicity hug. “What’s this for?”

“I love you.” Felicity murmured against his chest. “I know that I owe you a thousand apologies for a lot of things, but I just really want you to know that I love you and that I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me. You took me under your wing and raised me and I could’ve never asked for a better dad.”

Stunned, Tony buried his nose into Felicity’s blonde hair. “Smoakie, by now you have to know that you’re not the only one to blame for us going complicated. I love you, too, my little genius, but you can be pretty stupid sometimes. You don’t owe me anything. I’m your dad, kid. I expect you to fuck up a little. I’m just glad that after everything we’ve fucked up, we’re still here. Two genius fuck ups, you and me. We’ll save the world one day.”

Felicity laughed, throat thick with tears.

“There’s my girl. Alright, get Sara, I’m taking you two out for ice cream.”

“I thought she was going to be with her family?” Felicity asked.

Tony wrinkled his nose. “Nope, apparently Laurel isn’t exactly ready to deal with everything. Sara came back here looking lost. She was going to leave again when she saw you weren’t here, but when I asked where she wanted to go, she said ‘home’ and then did that thing with her face--”

“Expressed her feelings?”

“--yeah, that. So I told her to go lay down and that I’d whip her up some dinner.”

Felicity grinned and kissed Tony’s cheek. “I love you, Dad.”

“Go get your assassin and we’ll go get some ice cream. If you two have actually eaten, that is.” Tony frowned. “When was the last time you had a homecooked meal?”

“The night I was grabbed by the Count, Pops made casserole while we talked.”

“Gross. Don’t get me wrong, I love the man, but your Pops is the worst cook on the planet.” Felicity snorted at Tony’s scrunched up nose. “Seriously, I’m so glad that Jarvis taught me while I was a kid, otherwise we’d be starved or dead from food poisoning by now.”

Felicity shook her head at Tony and moved to the guest room that had been dubbed Sara’s room.

She really did love her makeshift family. It was little, and broken. But what was it Stitch had said? ‘Still good’?

Yeah, still good.

*

“I love you,” Oliver told her, pushing the syringe into her hand. “Do you understand?”

Felicity nods, running over Natasha’s rules for acting. It was hard to figure out how her face was supposed to look, though.

Tony had been called away to help Steve and Natasha and the helicarriers had fallen in Washington, D.C., and it was radio silence, and her dads might be--

Sara had vanished, Felicity didn’t know where she was, but every time she looked into the room where Steve had painted a tiny yellow canary flying away, her heart twisted violently, but now she was back and she’d made a deal--

Oliver was tearing himself apart over Moira’s death and it was Felicity’s fault that they had never made up, but she couldn’t feel bad because they had told Thea the truth just in time--

Roy had been in a coma for so fucking long and there had to have been side effects--

Moira was dead--

Isabelle had--

_You are not alone. You are not done fighting._

Felicity could feel her mind racing with everything that was happening. She knew half a year ago, she would’ve gone giddy at the thought of Oliver loving her--even to outfox _Slade_ but she’d grown so much since then and she’d gotten over her crush. (And wow, did it shock her, but she was finally in a place where she could fall in love without feeling unworthy? Not with Oliver, but maybe in the future--maybe if they lived--) But right then she had a job to do, a role to play. Pushing up onto her toes, she kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear.

“Be careful.”

Oliver pulled away and nodded, relief on his features twinged with that ever present worry that was there every time she was in danger.

As he left, Felicity forced herself to calm down. A single tear marched down her cheek as she realized it.

_Fuck, she was going to get kidnapped again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took so long. I promise next time, we might even meet Bucky, but for now:
> 
> ~THE END OF SEASON 2~
> 
>  
> 
> ~~END OF OLICITY AS WELL BECAUSE I NIPPED THAT IN THE BUD~~


	4. Family Dinners

It was interesting, being on the winning side for so long. Team Arrow had been prepared--so generally used to taking one on the chin--that the high of the months after winning against Slade Wilson was just what the team needed as it grew and changed.

With Roy awake and cured of the Mirakuru, and Thea demanding to join the team after Felicity explained everything to her, and Digg taking more and more time to spend with Lyla, and Sara leaving to fulfill her end of the bargain with the League, the entire dynamic of the team and the lair changed. Thea and Roy were still in training--both taking turns wearing the red costume. Sara came and went as the League allowed, always prefacing each visit with a phone call.

A phone call because Quentin and Tony and Steve all insisted on a family dinner every time Sara got back. ‘Family’ of course being a broad term. Felicity, Quentin, Laurel, Sara and one of Felicity’s fathers were always present, but the table grew and shrunk with added or subtracted leaves based on who was free. Sometimes, all of Team Arrow was present. Sometimes, all of the Avengers crashed the evening.

Sometimes Quentin just called Laurel and Felicity to have a meal with him because his apartment felt too quiet.

This dinner was special, though, because it was at this dinner that the Family Dinner gang was finally going to meet Felicity’s new little brother, Peter. Tony and Steve had adopted the 16 year old after both his aunt and uncle got shot one night in Queens at the beginning of Summer, just after everyone had finally recovered from the fall of SHIELD. Felicity was there for Peter’s first week at the tower, but had to leave to manage her team afterward so she hadn’t seen the kid in nearly four months.

She’d only just convinced Steve and Tony to both come down with Peter for a long weekend (because Peter was still in school) when Sara called to tell Quentin that she was, indeed, going to be in town for the night. Which meant that Quentin, Laurel, and Tony were all crammed in Felicity’s kitchen, playfully bickering at each other while Felicity, Steve, Peter, Sara, and Roy all sat around Felicity’s coffee table playing Monopoly.

Or, they would be, if Steve wasn’t currently interrogating Felicity about the scrape on her face.

“Pops, I promise you, it was a team dinner. Thea, Oliver, Roy, Digg, and I went out to a fancy place, but Oliver didn’t notice a tracker on his suit. The restaurant was bombed, but I’m fine. It’s just a scrape.” Felicity explained for the fourth time while Steve intently inspected the cut on her hairline.

“Don’t listen to her, she always lies about whether or not she’s okay!” Tony yelled from the doorway of the kitchen as he transferred a dish to the dining room table.

“Yeah, I wonder where she got _that_ from!” Steve shot back.

“Do we really need to go down that road?” Peter asked as he rolled a ‘10’ and landed on Free Parking. He smirked at Roy and Sara as he collected the money in the middle of the board, but honestly that wouldn’t mean much considering the fact that Roy and Sara were practically in a blood feud over most of the board, with Steve, Felicity, and Peter collective owning maybe 10% of the purchased property. “You got shot last week and didn’t tell anyone, Cap.”

“What!?” Felicity pinned Steve with a wicked glared.

“You get ‘em, big sis. I got your back.” Peter grinned happily and grabbed another kernel of popcorn. Or, tried to, but was intercepted by Sara smacking away his hand.

“Nuh-uh, the popcorn is property of the Blonde Alliance. You decided not to join us.” Sara narrowed her eyes playfully at the newcomer.

“I didn’t wanna gang up on Roy!” Peter defended himself for the tenth time, throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation.

“What do you mean you got _shot_ and didn’t tell anyone!?” Felicity hissed at Steve.

Roy snorted. “I like this kid.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “It’s nowhere near as vicious as Pete’s purposefully making it sound. It was just a graze.”

“A graze on his temple!” Peter pointed out before going back to the conversation with Sara and Roy.

“You’re only defending him because he’s young and innocent and doesn’t realize that you, Roy Harper, are a goddamn snake!”

“I’m hurt, Sara! Hurt and offended!”

“I’m not _that_ young!”

“You’re like twelve, shut up and let the grown ups talk.”

“I was on your side!”

“Don’t mind him, Petey, he’s just glad that he’s not the youngest anymore.”

“You got shot in the head and didn’t tell anyone, you haven’t visited me in two months or answered the phone in three weeks, and thus I am revoking your mother henning card.”

“You can’t do that! I’ll mother hen whoever and whenever I damn well please!”

“I don’t know, Pops, she has a point.” Peter smirked at Steve betrayed expression.

“I’ll deal with you later, young man!”

“Oh shit, you just got ‘young man’d!” Roy cackled.

“Young man,” Sara sung. “There’s no need to feel down.”

“You’re not ‘dealing with him’ for telling me the truth! I’m dealing with you, old man!”

“I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.”

“God, she’s not gonna stop that is she?” Roy groaned and stole a handful of popcorn to start throwing it at Sara who was resolutely Not Acknowledging Him as she performed.

“Nope, she memorized all of the lyrics and used to sing it every time she wanted to annoy everyone into doing something her way,” Laurel informed them as she came through to deliver more food. On her way back to the kitchen, she paused and looked at what they were doing. “Monopoly? Seriously? Again?”

“I said, young man, cause you’re new in a town.”

“I can’t believe you called me old. My own children. Turning against me.”

“That’s what happens when you have more than one,” Quentin chimed in as he came out of the kitchen to look over the chaos. “Dinner’s ready you heathens.”

“There’s no need to be unhappy.”

“Can’t we eat in here while we finish the game?” Roy asked.

“No. Table. Now.” Quentin ordered before turning to Felicity. “You expecting anyone else to show up?” 

“Young man, there’s a place you can go.”

“Um...Thea and Oliver are on patrol, but they might stop by as we’re winding down to grab a quick dinner and Digg and Lyla are actually at the hospital because Lyla’s in labor right now. Digg’s gonna text me when they’re done. Dad’s already given them enough frozen meals to feed Pops for a month.”

“I said, young man, when you’re short on your dough.”

“Oh my god, someone shut her up or I will.”

“I’ll eat my pants if you can beat her.” Laurel raised her eyebrows at Roy.

“You can stay there, and I’m sure you will find.”

Tony clapped loudly. “Dinner’s getting cold and I know if there’s one thing you all actually like, it’s food.”

“Our children are trying to take away my mother hen card!”

“It’s teaching them teamwork.”

“Many ways to have a good time.”

“I have a bad feeling about how she’s gonna finish this out.” Peter observed quietly, earning an answering nod from Quentin and Roy.

“No, no! If we’re telling Dad about this situation, we’re telling him about how you’re being a hypocrite!”

Steve’s offended huff was drowned out by a sudden, loud shout. 

_**“IT’S FUN TO STAY AT THE--”** _

*

Felicity’s house was clean by the time she got back from the hospital--she had a feeling she had Steve and Peter to thank for that, considering that they were both clean freaks of a feather. She kicked off her shoes and put them in the storage container next to her door for the pairs that she wears most frequently--and boy, did she need to start integrating flats back into her life. Shrugging out of her coat, she tossed it onto the top of the shoe grid before padding her way into her kitchen for a cup of coffee.

Her kitchen of course, is where she found Thea munching on leftover pasta from dinner in her Speedy uniform and Peter reaching for one of Tony’s and Oliver’s overly healthy snack bars--a box of which had been shoved into the back of the top shelf of Felicity’s pantry after one too many team basketball tournaments. Felicity kicked her step stool over to her little brother and popped a k-cup into the Keurig.

“Petey, grab me a mug, please?” Felicity asked, earning a small sure before the teenager was handing her a _Talk Nerdy To Me_ mug. “How’d patrol go, Thea?”

“Oliver sprung a ‘family talk’ on me,” Thea took a swig from her water bottle grumpily. “Totally made me miss family dinner and Sara completely. Did Roy win Monopoly.”

“Nope. Steve, Felicity, and Sara squeezed him out of the game within five minutes of finishing dinner.” Peter reported, earning a nod from the young Queen.

“And you’re the little brother, right?” Peter nodded. “Dope. I was getting tired of being the youngest one here. Felicity says you’re smart in Chemistry?”

“I dabble,” Peter shrugged, a light blush on his cheeks as he took a bite of his bar. Thea rolled her eyes and twirled her fork in the fettucini.

“Don’t be modest, honey, own it.” She told him before continuing without pause. “I’m just gonna bring up that the high schools in Starling are the best in the country.”

“I like New York. It’s my home.” Peter shuffled from foot to foot.

“That’s her way of saying she doesn’t mind you being around, Pete. No one’s asking you to move.” Felicity grabbed her mug and took a swig of the warm liquid. “God, I needed that.”

“What’s up?” Peter frowned at Felicity. She looked over at him--nearly ten years younger than her and already her height, because Lord knows that everybody has to be taller than her--and remembered the scared kid that she’d met when he first came to the Tower. She was proud of how far he’d come along in the past months, proud that Spider-Man had been able to help him so much, proud that he’d been so ready to accept her into his family even though she was never there.

And a little ashamed that he’d gotten so adept at reading her in the time that they’d spent together.

“Job offer.” Felicity admitted. “I blocked the cold war cunt from taking over Queen Consolidated but it’s basically falling apart from the inside out. Oliver is…”

“Oliver, so he’s completely unhelpful, yeah?” Thea predicted wryly.

“Yeah.” Felicity yawned. “I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to save it, but...I don’t know, businesses die, you know? Oliver and I have talked and we’ve pretty much decided to sell it so that we can protect the other Queen family assets. Ray Palmer is the number one bid--good guy, probably. At least, outside of the way he acts around me.”

“Fuckboy or Nice Guy?” Thea asked.

“Nice Guy, probably. Lowkey Fuckboy maybe. Maybe just ‘doesn’t know how to flirt outside of how Hollywood taught him to’.” Felicity rolled that around in her head. “Yeah, that sounds best. He pinged my phone while I was at the hospital and showed up to give me a job.”

“Palmer Tech is a great company. It’s at the forefront of technology these days and has a sound humanitarian reputation. Sounds like a good opportunity.” Peter leaned his shoulder against the fridge while Felicity leaned back against her counter, her hands wrapped around her mug protectively.

“Sure.”

Thea and Peter shared a look before looking back at Felicity. Thea was the one who spoke this time, but the words were Peter’s. “Felicity. What’s up?”

Felicity looked like she was debating something in her head. She was chewing on the inside of her cheeks--Thea figured that she probably had scars from how much she did that--and had he head titled to the side, eyes glazed over as she went over the possibilities.

“I could take a fine job as a VP in Palmer Tech. I could take a co-CEO job at Stark Industries. Or…” Felicity sighed and looked between Thea and Peter. “I don’t know...it might be ridiculous, but what if I started my own company?”

Thea and Peter both looked at Felicity in shock. Peter’s mouth was hanging open and Thea’s fork fell out of her slack fingers back to her plate.

“Yeah, no, you guys are right. It’d be stupid, anyway, I’ll just--”

“Do it.” Thea spoke in a no nonsense tone.

“But--”

“Do it.” Peter echoed Thea’s words.

“It’s perfect,” Thea grinned, first at Felicity, then at Peter, then back at Felicity. “Oh my god, it’s _perfect_! Smoak Technologies. You can start small, but- but you’re a Stark. You’ve got a mind that’s meant to help the world and- yeah, this is _perfect_.”

“She’s right. Da- Tony would love it, too.” Peter snorted quietly. “Hell, he’d probably help you take down SI. And if there’s anything I’ve picked up about you, Smoak, it’s that you’re damn persistent. You were made to take on the world. I don’t think this is ridiculous at all. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.”

Felicity blushed and looked down at her coffee. “It wouldn’t be world changing. At least, not at first. It’ll probably just start out with me fixing people’s tech. Maybe I’ll make my own OS that’ll more user friendly with still being virus-resistant and not costing an arm and a leg. A solution to McAfee.”

“I love it,” Thea finished her last bite of pasta and stood to wash her plate before drying it off and putting it up in a cabinet. “Sweetie, I will be your assistant if that’s what it takes to get this started.”

Felicity laughed. “I’m going to need to sit down at think everything through first, Thea. I wouldn’t be able to pay you.”

“You protected my inheritance. Also, I technically have all of Malcolm’s money. And while I know that he’s alive and well enough to hunt me down, I am petty enough to enjoy spending all of his cash on dildos.”

“Gross, Thea.” Felicity laughed at the way Peter turned bright red.

“C’est la vie, mon ami.” Thea shrugged, unashamed.

*

“Hey, sweetie?” Steve knocked on the kitchen counter where Felicity was tapping away furiously on her laptop. She pulled herself away from her work slowly but surely--a habit she’d picked up from Tony--and looked up at him with a bright smile.

“‘Sup, Pops?” Felicity’s tone was curious as she focused on Steve, noting that he was using his serious face.

“So, you know why I’ve been...absent lately, right?” Steve asked, pulling out the stool next to his daughter to speak with her on her level. Felicity nodded, closing her laptop to give Steve all of her attention. “Well, I was wondering if...Felicity, you’re the best computer-er I’ve ever known--don’t tell your father I said that--and I wanted to know if you’d be okay with helping me--”

“Find Bucky?” Felicity asked, a small, patient smile on her face. “Of course, Pops. That’s not even a question.”

“Yes it is, sweetie.” Steve reached across the counter and grabbed her hand gently. “I love you and I’d never dream of not giving you a choice in something like this.”

“You’re going to give yourself more wrinkles if you keep frowning all day. Take it from me, Dad vastly prefers the laugh lines.” Felicity squeezed Steve’s hand. “I know you wouldn’t make me do anything, Pops. But this is _Bucky_. Hell, I don’t even really care who it is, if they’re important to you, they’re important to me. That’s just the way that this family works.”

Steve smiled lovingly at her and gathered her into a gentle hug.

“Does this mean that Bucky’s gonna look 30 years younger than you?”

Felicity shrieked and danced away when Steve’s gentle hug turned into vicious tickling.

*

“What would you say if I said that I wanted to start my own local tech repair and research company?” Felicity flopped down next to Tony on the couch as the family all gathered around the TV, which was airing the pilot of Psych from Felicity’s Netflix queue.

“I’d say that you better rip SI to shreds because there is no way my father could build anything that could beat you and you’re brilliant little brain.” Tony answered without looking up from fiddling with a schematic on his phone.

“I think it’s a very ambitious idea,” Steve took over for Tony diplomatically. “Is this what you’ve been working on this weekend?”

“Yeah,” Felicity settled into the couch, glad that Tony wasn’t showing any feelings of betrayal. “I’m thinking of calling it Smoak Technologies.”

“I like it.” Tony finally looked up to grin at her. “Let me invest. I’d really like to see my legacy destroy my father’s. It’d be even greater if you and Petey teamed up with everyone I’ve ever saved and all of my Iron Man suits to do this. I’m just so damn proud of how petty you are.”

“I’m not planning on destroying SI.” Felicity rolled her eyes.

“Well, of course, not right away.” Tony gave her an exaggerated wink before he and Steve both expectantly looked at Peter.

“Hm?” Peter looked between his two new dads before realizing what they were expected of him when Steve nodded his chin towards Felicity. “Oh, we’ve already talked about it.”

“Yeah?” Tony raised his eyebrows and smiled in delight at both of them. “So you two are getting closer?”

“Well, yeah.” Felicity shrugged. “He is my brother.”

“She’s my sister.”

Tony nodded happily. “Maybe you can visit Felicity during long weekends, Pete.”

“I’d like that. I’ll get to annoy her and show the Arrow that Spider-Man is way cooler.”

Steve sighed. “We’re gonna get tag-teamed, Tony. You’re opening the door to a very dangerous alliance.”

“It’s cute that you think that the door had to be opened for us to know how to work you.” Felicity drawled flatly. From the other side of Tony, Peter lifted his hand up for Felicity to slap in a celebratory high-five.

*

It was almost stupid, how easy it was to find Bucky. All you had to do was not think the way Steve Rogers would. And if there’s anyone who could do that--anyone who, in life experience, was the polar opposite to Steve Rogers, it was Felicity Smoak.

It took one month after Steve, Tony, and Peter had visited the first time for Felicity to wade through the leaked SHIELD documents with the intention of finding the Winter Soldier. She could she Tony’s digital footprints. She could see where his biases led him astray. She could see the point in the documents where she knew Tony had a panic attack and had to stop.

That explained a bit more about why she was brought in to find Bucky. Because as much as Tony might know that the Winter Soldier wasn’t him, Tony had so many issues surrounding Howard that facing his death everyday was enough of a challenge without articles about it facing him. Because that was part of what Felicity had to do. She was to get into a clinical headspace and lookover these kills for patterns and revelations that no one else had seen.

And with Natasha’s training in the back of his mind, that’s what she’d done. She tracked Bucky’s movements across the world and to Santa Barbara.

Which was why Felicity was currently driving down a nearly abandoned highway toward a very abandoned cabin on the outskirts of a small town near Santa Barbara. Being self-employed meant a lot of things, but it also meant that she could give herself this vacation. Also, that all she had to tell Oliver and Co. was that she had a project to do in Santa Barbara. Bam. Not even a real lie.

(Peter had given her the disappointed face over Skype when Felicity said that line about lies, but Peter also had this thing about _responsibility_ that habitually made Felicity feel like a worse person than she was, so she tried not to feel too bad.)

It was three in the afternoon when Felicity’s rental car pulled up next to the cabin. She exited the vehicle and looked over the place for any obvious signs of inhabitants. The owner had told her that she hadn’t been out here since her wife died and that she would be glad if it fell over and was never rebuilt, which Felicity figured meant that she hadn’t checked in on the cabin in a while.

Once it was obvious that Bucky wasn’t currently home, Felicity made quick work of the lock and let herself in. The one-bedroom cabin was small and would’ve been homey twenty years ago, but was now out of date. It reminded Felicity of her grandmother’s house from the time Donna had taken Felicity there for a week after another one of Noah’s binges. Felicity froze as she realized the extent of that statement.

Well, fuck. You learn more every day.

Shaking off her shitty childhood, Felicity began looking over how Bucky had basically converted this place into a safe house. There was no dust, which meant that Bucky had to have been here this morning. He had a sleeping bag laid out in the living room, likely so that he’d be close enough to hear any oncoming traffic. Felicity had only just reached the kitchen when the front door burst open and Felicity came face to face with a man she’d only ever seen in pictures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, I told you that they'd meet. I didn't say that they's really interact.


	5. Don't Shoot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, I don't feel great about this chapter. It was a bitch to write. I'm just glad to have it done.
> 
> RIP me.

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows angrily and leveled his gun at the slip of a blonde in front of him. Her wide blue eyes may have made her look pretty non-combative, but if Bucky had learned anything in the past seventy years it was that looks could be deceiving.

“Woah, woah!” She held her hands in the air and looked at him with an expression like he was the wacky one here. “With the gun, come on! We’re adults, we can talk through our problems!”

Bucky tilted his head to the side a bit, his hold on his gun not wavering as he reassessed the woman. Her voice had climbed up a whole octave as she chastised him for holding a gun her, which probably meant that she hadn’t expected this. Which probably meant that she was stupid. Still, stupid and unprepared did not mean harmless. “Who sent you?”

“Who _sent_ me!?” Felicity parroted back at him like he was being ridiculous, which was really starting to annoy him because he was being especially reasonable given the current circumstances. “No on _sent_ me, you paranoid hobo!”

“Really not the smartest move to insult the guy with a gun on you, doll.” Bucky narrowed his eyes at the blonde.

Felicity shrugged unconcerned. “What? Like you’re the first person to ever pull a gun on me?”

Bucky let out an irritated sigh. “You make a habit of breaking into people’s houses?”

“If I’m breaking in, then so are you, because you don’t really look like the 74 year old Lori Jones.” Felicity tossed back at him.

“Who are you!?” 

“I’m not answering anymore of your questions until you put the damn gun away!” Felicity forced her fear to stay out of her tone as she employed the Loud Voice that usually had even Oliver behaving for once in his damn life. Bucky blinked widely at her for a beat before sighing again and shaking his head as he put away the gun. “Much appreciated. Hey, how you doin’? I’m Felicity Smoak, nice to meet’cha.”

Bucky stared down at her outstretched arm like she’d just grown it out of her belly button, but eventually drew himself together enough to shake her damn hand like a normal person. “Bucky.”

“Yeah, I know who you are.” Bucky stiffened, Felicity’s fragile hand still in his tightening grip. “Ow, okay, I admit that that wasn’t great wording, but come on, dude, I need those fingers.”

He let go of her hand, but his scowl was still firmly in place. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

“ _Why_!?” Bucky bit out, annoyed and developing a bit of a headache with the lack of clarity in this woman’s answers.

Felicity smiled dazzlingly at his annoyance. “Because my dads want to save you and I need to be sure they aren’t fighting a losing battle. Pops is kinda an idealist, you see, and Dad will do whatever Pops asks him to. Neither of them are great at being objective, especially not when you were Pops’ best friend back before the whole Hydra thing.”

Bucky blinked at Felicity, stunned. “So you’re Steve’s daughter?”

“Yeah.”

“That explains a lot.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and counted down from ten. “And your dad is?”

“Tony Stark.”

He let out yet another heavy sigh. “That makes a disturbing amount of sense.”

Felicity shrugged, unrepentant. “Listen, Buck-a-roo. There are only a few people on this planet that I was face you down for. You were depressingly easy to find. You’ve been getting sloppy. I want to know why.”

“You’re awfully demanding for answers there, doll.” Bucky shot back at her.

“You want me to say pretty please and bat my eyes at you?” Felicity threw out her arm to gesture at the door behind them. “You’ve been expecting trouble which tells me that you’re aware of every step you’ve been taking. You’re waiting for Hydra to come after you again, aren’t you?”

Bucky scoffed and shook his head, feeling more frustration with this small blonde than he’d ever allowed himself to feel under Hydra’s thumb. “You sure you need me here? I’ve got a bus to catch.”

“No, you don’t. You have a plane to catch: a plane that’s taking you to New York so that Pops will stop risking his life to find you.”

“I never asked him to do that.”

“The fact that you think he would need to be asked tells me that you didn’t know him very well.”

“I’ve known Steve my entire life, doll!” Bucky growled out, insulted at the jab she took at the one thing that he was _sure_ of since he’d been thawed out. “Don’t go around talking about things you don’t understand.”

“Things I don’t understand?” She repeated, outraged. “What the fuck do you think I don’t understand? You have no idea who I am, buddy, I recommend you take a page from your own book.”

“You’re the one breaking into a place you were sure a murderer would be an then yelling at the murderer when he came in--with a gun pointed at you, by the way!” Bucky spoke in that same gruff, exasperated tone that he could remember yelling at Steve with, and Lord help him, there was _another_ Steve.

“Oh, shoot me!” Felicity rolled her eyes. “I don’t know who here counts as a murderer seeing as you were a brainwashed POW not some double agent, but tell yourself whatever you want. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to freak the fuck out if I told Pops you were here! Now, I can do just that. Thank you so much for your cooperation.”

Bucky cursed under his breath and reached out to grab her arm to stop her from leaving. “Don’t.”

“Use your words,” Felicity narrowed her eyes at him.

“Don’t tell Steve I’m here.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, asshole.”

Bucky scraped his metal hand over his face. “Christ alive, you are just like your pops.”

“Thank you.” Felicity wrestled her arm out of his grasp and leveled him with an examining look that would’ve made him bristle in another life. “Why don’t you want me to tell Steve?”

“I’m not ready to face him.” He admitted once he realized that Felicity probably wouldn’t even pretend to entertain a lie.

Felicity bounced the answer around in her mind. “The way I see it...I can’t leave you here. Lori is a very nice woman who doesn’t deserve to have a freeloader. I’m not saying that you have to go to New York, but...I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I live in Starling. It’s not too far from here. If you’re somewhere where Steve knows you’re safe, where you can get help, I can keep him at bay until you’re ready to see me. The only thing you have to do...is trust me.”

Bucky stared at her searchingly for a beat, but he knew it was semantics. He knew he could get away from her and Steve, but he wouldn’t. Hell, he knew that he could go off grid and never get found again. But...as infuriating as this tiny blonde was, he wanted to know more about her. He wanted to get better. He wanted to be surrounded by people again. He wanted a team--a family--again.

And even if he couldn’t face Steve...well, facing Felicity seemed like it would help him get ready for that particular hurdle.

When he nodded his agreement, he could tell that it took Felicity off guard, but didn’t comment. After all, she was the one who offered her home. He assumed she knew what she was offering. She was simply just getting hit with the ramifications of this.

_Peter was going to kill her._

“Quick rule, though: don’t tell anyone you held a gun on me. Or that I came down here alone. Or that I came here at all.” Felicity hurriedly announced. “We’ll say that we ran into each other. Yeah, that’ll work. That won’t make Digg try to lock me in a tower.”

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

Felicity sighed.

This would be fun.


	6. 6. The Curious Case of Felicity Smoak (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve comes to town and he and Bucky discuss his daughter.

In a word, Bucky would describe Felicity as...well, as courageous. He couldn’t tell if she was born brave or if Steve drilled it into her--maybe a combination of both--but Bucky couldn’t imagine the blonde woman ever backing down. It was inspiring and maddening at the same time. They had agreed to meet at a diner a few towns over to hash out the details of their up and coming cohabitation and it was there that Felicity told him to smile before snapping a picture and doing with it whatever she did.

It only took a few seconds for her phone to start ringing.

While Bucky did wish to give her her privacy, enhanced senses paired with Steve and Tony’s outrageously loud voices didn’t give either of them the privilege. Still, Felicity was cool as a cucumber during the interrogation from her fathers.

(Part of him wondered if he’d be as impressed if he couldn’t remember just how fucking stubborn Steve Rogers could be when it came to people he cared about. However, with that information painfully lodged into his brain, he couldn’t help the slight admiration for the seamless navigation on her part.)

He couldn’t exactly follow the rapid conversation--Felicity and Tony both slipping into Italian from time to time when the discussion got especially heated--but he knew when Felicity hung up that she had won. She let him know that Tony and Steve would try to give him space to cope with the future if he let her keep an eye on him. She told him that they would try to stay in New York unless they were needed, but that Steve had already scheduled a trip down to see Felicity a month from then because he felt bad for neglecting her.

(He ignored the rolling of Felicity’s eyes at the term because the idea that she’d ever been neglected to the point that not talking to her pops for over a month was nothing made a small part of his brain rebell.)

After Bucky agreed once more to stay with her and try to sort himself out instead walking the lonely road, Felicity made a point to give him every choice from then on out. Drive up with her, or get there by himself. Master bedroom or guest room. What kind of food did he want.

It was novel to him to the point that Bucky was sure it pissed Felicity off a little bit every time she gave him a choice instead of an order. He’d found out that that was the kinda dame Felicity was: caring, fiercely so if need be. He managed to have an entire month of peace--most likely due to Felicity’s actions covering for him to not only her fathers but to her team.

(And boy had that been a fun explanation. The Winter Soldier already knew a lot about the Arrow--as much as Felicity had allowed SHIELD to know, at least. His identity was an open secret to most of the intelligence community, a secret maintained by an online presence next to only that of that idiot in Gotham. Oliver Queen’s identity aside, the Arrow’s compatriots had been closely guarded and never leaked. There was a rumor of a stray League of Assassins runaway teaming up with him, but no one could find any solid evidence.

Still, after only a month of living with Felicity, he had identified enough of her friends and did enough research on _them_ to figure out their entire team.)

Once the month was over, though, and the honeymoon ended as Felicity had sighed one afternoon, Steve came to visit.

It was odd to see Steve again--odder to see his best friend so much older than he was. Bucky had always been older than Steve by just a few months--enough that he’d constantly hold them over the blond’s head. But in time spent actually living, it seemed that Steve now beat him out by an entire lifetime--about Felicity’s lifetime, if they were honest. Steve had definitely aged well, the serum slowing it down, but the effect of decades spent building a family and falling in love were there.

Bucky had enough self awareness to know that it was good for him to face his past head on, and for him that past had arrived at Felicity’s door wearing his mother’s crow’s feet, a scrap of a beard, and a fatherly smile as he swept Felicity into a bear hug.

That didn’t stop him from wanting to retreat, but it did keep him feet firmly planted on the ground.

“You’re too skinny,” Steve announced once he put Felicity down, poking at her ribs. “Have you been eating? Sleeping? I know you’re just like your dad when it comes to work ethic, so don’t you dare lie to me, little girl.”

Felicity rolled her eyes, but Bucky could see the safety blanket settling gently over Felicity’s shoulders. As much as they teased and prodded at each other, Bucky could see how much love flowed between them and it made part of him...proud. Proud of his best friend, the hero and the father, and most definitely the scrawny kid from Brooklyn with so little to live for that he agreed to risky experimentation--who had not only gone out into the world and became a symbol of doing the right thing but also came back from an indescribable war to build himself a family.

(Bucky wasn’t sure how this “recovery” thing would work, but he thought maybe that...was progress.)

So when Steve moved away from his daughter and held out a hand to him, Bucky responded in kind. “Buck,” Steve breathed out, a genuine smile on his lips. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too, punk.” Bucky’s voice was quieter than he usually was these days, but he could count on Steve to hear him out. It looked like the bearded man was physically holding himself back from smothering Bucky the way he’d smothered his daughter and Bucky was nothing but grateful for that. “I’ve been bothering Miss Independent over here too much for her to be stuffed up in some lab, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

And a knot of tension in Steve’s shoulders really did relax at that. He grinned at his old friend before looking over at his daughter, who had retreated into her tablet to give them privacy. “Thank you. She’s- she means the world to me. If anyone could get her head outta some computer long enough to shower and sleep like a normal person, it’d be you.”

“Well, she has her pops’ stubborn side,” Bucky deadpanned, watching as Felicity flipped him off without looking up from the tablet. “And her dad’s charm.”

Steve laughed at that, his hand clasping Bucky’s shoulder. “Do me a favor and don’t tell Tony that.”

Bucky raised one eyebrow, falling into the habit of teasing Steve was easier than remembering how to flirt. “Why?”

“Dad’s always been convinced that Pops is the reason why I’m so stubborn.” Felicity rolled her eyes. 

“She was like this when I found her, honest.” Steve smiled that stupid shit eating grin and Bucky looked up at the sky to ask Sarah Rogers for strength in handling a full week of two Steves.

*

Bucky looked up from sharpening his knife when he heard Steve knock on the door. “Come in.”

“Hey,” Steve poked his head into the room and hesitantly stepped in. “Do you know where Felicity ran off to? Her tablet dinged and she just vanished.”

Bucky hummed. “Either she’s looking at properties or Team Arrow needed her.”

Steve snorted. “Team Arrow couldn’t find a nun in a church without Felicity there to guide them.”

“They aren’t the brightest bunch, but your girl makes up for that.” Bucky allowed himself the wry smile that came every time he recalled the way Felicity had her team whipped into shape. Because there was no way to mistake it: Team Arrow was _Felicity’s_ team. She was the one who pointed that loaded missile in the right direction and it was only on her say-so that they moved. To think that when he first met her, he’d thought that she was stupid for facing off against him.

“That she does. The moment I first looked her in the eye, I could tell ya that she could talk circles around me.” Steve sat next to Bucky on the end of his bed. “Did she ever tell you how we met?”

Bucky shrugged. “She said that she didn’t remember a lot, but that she was fostered as the Avengers’ mascot.”

Steve chuckled and shook his head, fond exasperation settled on his face. “That was one of Tony’s worst joke over the years. Nah, I found her. I was in Vegas--on vacation to learn how to count cards so I wouldn’t get bilked by Tony and the spy kids come next Avengers poker night.”

Bucky snorted at that. He’d already had the joy of playing blackjack against Felicity and that little assistant of hers, Thea. “Were you the one who taught Smoak?”

“She already knew,” Steve sighed heavily. “I’m surrounded by geniuses all day, Buck. You know how hard that is on a guy’s self esteem.”

“Something tells me you can take it, Captain America,” Bucky rolled his eyes.

Steve barked out a laugh and nodded, “Fair. So I was in Vegas and I was taking a walk because I wanted some time to think. I’d only been in that decade for a few years at that point, and I was missing home something fierce. I had also started to realize that I had something here for me.”

“Tony.”

“Yeah,” Steve’s smile softened as his eyes flickered away, the kind of gooey lovesick expression that nearly two decades of marriage stripped from someone’s face. “I was only just figuring out what those feelings were when this tiny, little voice came out of an alley, right? She said ‘excuse me’. I look over, and what do I see but this tiny wisp of a child, hugging her bleeding and broken arm to her chest, and staring up at me like we’re about to make some business deal.”

Bucky let out a weary breath, but he could picture it. Steve nodded in agreement. “Yeah, see? She was like this before me. Anyway, I introduced myself to her. She was six at the time. I had to convince her to let me take her to the hospital because I was a stranger. She was sharp as a tac, though. First time she met Tony, she corrected him.”

Bucky tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed together. “She was alone?”

Steve let out a breath and nodded, the smile slipping from his face. “Her mom went into WitPro a year before for mob things, but didn’t mention her child to the government. Her dad, he left and never came back. Noah Kuttler...he was like my dad, you remember?”

“Yeah.” Bucky’s mouth twisted in anger. Drunk. Angry. Violent. He remembered Steve’s dad. He didn’t think anything Hydra did could make him forget. 

“Yeah,” Steve echoed, his fingers hanging loosely together between his knees. “We already were fostering her when she finally told us. We were...we were livid. You understand. We got a restraining order as soon as Tony found him. I got SHIELD to put him in prison.”

Bucky nodded. “And after the fall?”

“He escaped.” Steve looked down at his fingers. “Buck, what did you think of Felicity...when you first met?”

“I thought that she was either brave or an idiot or both.” Bucky told him bluntly. That startled a laugh out of Steve.

“And now that you’ve been housemates for a month?” Steve asked.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “I know that she’s some kinda genius, but she’s just as stupid as you.” Steve snorted. “You and her are cut from the same cloth. She came alone to find me. She yelled at me while I had a gun on her. What do I think of her? I think she’s trouble.”

Steve nodded wryly, “You’re not wrong about that.”

“What’s this about, punk?” Bucky asked, turning to Steve with a serious expression.

“Her dad escaped.” Steve breathed out, the world weary look on his face showing the decades that he had on Bucky. “Her team is good, they’ll keep her safe if she lets them.”

“You don’t think she will.”

“Miss Independent, that’s what you called her, right?” Steve shrugged a little, a helpless look on his face. “Ever since she was in college, she decided that she didn’t need help from anybody. And...when it comes to her parents, she has a blindspot. I don’t know if Noah could affect as much as Donna did, and I know that I have no right to ask you anything but--”

Bucky sighed and shook his head. “Punk, I kept you safe. Felicity’s small potatoes. And if she heard you right now, she’d wring your neck.”

“I’ll risk it,” Steve gave Bucky a smile. “It’s...it’s good to have you back.”

“You mean it’s good to have someone else looking after her.” Bucky corrected Steve. He looked away from his old friend when his text tone went off twice. Walking over to his dresser, he smirked at the text from Felicity. “You know what that girl is?”

Steve raised his eyebrows and hummed questioningly at Bucky.

“She’s your karma.” Bucky tossed his phone to Steve.

_From: Felicity Smoak_

_**Won’t be home for dinner. Tell Pops not to worry. Nothing too serious.**  
18:42_

_**Don’t watch the news.**  
18:42_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look I updated


	7. How To Piss Of A Felicity

“Do I want to know what happened last night?” Steve asked his daughter as she walked into the living room late the next morning. Her hair was pulled into a messy braid--presumably slept on--and she was still wearing her pajamas, the tank top showing off the bruises that Steve knew were from sparring with Thea.

She let out a quiet groan and practically collapsed onto the couch as he went through her kitchen. Bucky emerged a few moments later and absentmindedly shooed Steve away to start breakfast. Steve watched as Bucky moved through the kitchen confidently, gathering ingredients.

“Waffles or potato pancakes?” Bucky asked, taking Steve by surprise.

“Waffles!” Felicity shouted, muffled by the cushions.

Bucky raised his eyebrows, waiting for Steve to answer. Steve shook himself out of his surprise, “Waffles sound good, Bucky, thank you.”

Bucky nodded and got out a mixing bowl. “Go make sure she isn’t going to sleep.”

Steve hid his bemused expression and followed Bucky’s instructions. He sat down next to Felicity’s head and pat her hair gently, “You still with us, honey?”

“No,” Felicity turned over to look up at him. “Do I smell?”

“No?” Steve answered, confused.

“Good.” Felicity nodded. “ARGUS has a giant crocodile man. He got loose in the sewer. I met Nightwing. He’s a dick.”

Steve paused and blinked down at her, “That’s a lot of story in those little sentences.”

“Mmm,” Felicity closed her eyes and shrugged. “After waffles, Pop. I promise.”

Steve hummed and nodded, “You’re planning on trying to distract me before I get to grill you for details, huh?”

Felicity shot him a poorly aimed finger gun and clicked her tongue. “That sounds like me--”

“Your dad is a terrible influence.”

“Sure, but I’ve discovered that a certain mother hen doesn’t fall for my evasion claims.” Felicity opened her eyes and shot a glare in the direction of the kitchen. Bucky, the fucker he was, started whistling. 

Steve looked between the two of them with a little smile on his lips. He could see it, how this might be good for the both of them. Bucky was always best when he had someone else to take of, someone to remind him to stay alive so that he could help them. And Felicity...would hate it if he told her to her face, but Steve worried about her. She was too much like Tony, an absentminded genius. She needed people to prod her with food when she got caught up in work, to remind her to shower, and call her dads.

Steve ran his fingers through Felicity’s hair and they chatted softly as they waited for Bucky to finish up their breakfast. “You look good,” Steve admitted quietly. “Happy.”

“I am,” Felicity shrugged a little and sat up. “I feel like I’ve finally found my place, you know? I have a place with these people--they need me and I...well, I need them.”

“And Buck--you’re doing well with him.” Steve slung his arm around the back of the sofa.

“I think it’s just treating him like a person,” She shifted uncomfortably. “He’s not broken like everybody thinks he is, he’s just different now.”

Steve hummed, tapping his fingers. “Yeah, but you see that. Not everyone does.”

“This is about Dad, isn’t it?” Felicity raised her eyebrows.

“The Winter Soldier killed his parents. He’s just...having a hard time marrying that image to the one of the scruffy guy that’s been feeding our daughter.” He leaned forward and sighed, resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know how to help him.”

Felicity let out a breath, “Give him time, and give him some credit. He understands the complexity of the situation, he’s just...waiting for his emotions to catch up.”

Steve stared at her for a minute before a genuine smile spread across his face, “You know, you and your dad are a lot alike.”

“I’ve been told. Usually when I’ve been up for more than two days.” Felicity gave him a wry smile.

“No, it’s more than that,” Steve insisted. “You have his mind, sure, but also his heart. Once Tony cares about someone, he cares about them forever. It’s hard to earn his trust, but it’s equally as hard to lose it. You do the same thing. That dynamic, amazing brain doesn’t lose hope in people.”

Felicity brought a hand up to scratch at the back of her neck, uncomfortable. “Dad would say I get that from you.”

“Nah,” Steve chuckled and shook his head. “Tony’s all heart. Never let him convince you differently.”

Felicity laughed softly. “I’ll tell him you said that.”

They both snorted and laughed together.

“What’s so funny?” Bucky demanded as he walked in, balancing three plates of waffles, two stacked high to the sky and one with a normal amount because Felicity wasn’t a damn super soldier.

“Family stuff,” Felicity accepted the plate. “Thank you.”

Bucky huffed and sat down on the other end of the sofa after Steve took his plate. “What happened to you last night, Smoak?”

Felicity let out a gusty sigh and stared up at the ceiling, “Well, it started with Amanda Waller being a cunt.”

“What’s new?” Steve asked, Completely Not Bitter™ over Waller and ARUS trying to get him ruled as government property. Felicity snorted. Bucky gave him a warning look.

“She accidentally let a suspected meta escape--which is apparently what we’re calling the people affected by the particle accelerator. Like Barry. Oh yeah, I’m going to Central next weekend--”

“You’re straying,” Bucky gently pushed her back on topic.

“Right. They had a suspected meta, Waylon Jones. Turns out he was born like it, but he’s a fucking crocodile furry.” Felicity deadpanned, “He escaped into the fucking sewer and Waller sent us to find him, but before we found Jones, we found none other than Nightwing.”

Bucky raised his eyebrows, “The hell is a Nightwing?”

Felicity ran her hand over her face, “God, I wish he heard that. Apparently ‘Killer Croc’ was one of Batman’s Rogues back in Gotham and Nightwing worked with him, so Bats sent Nightwing to contain Waller’s mistake. He’s a dick.”

“So you’ve said,” Steve took a bite of a waffle.

“If you met him,” Felicity shot Steve an exasperated look, “You’d understand.”

*

“Amanda Waller is trying to hack into my security system,” Felicity noted, mild annoyance coloring her tone. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number while Steve and Bucky both looked up at her, worried.

“Why would she be doing that?” Steve asked as he shared a glance with Bucky.

Felicity hummed, “Because she’s a cunt? Give me a minute to investigate.”

“Who are you callin’, Smoak?”

She held up a finger at them for a beat while she typed and waited for the call to connect. “Hey, babe, what’s shakin’?”

 _“What’s wrong?”_ Felicity could practically see Lyla sitting up and frowning--much the same way Bucky and Steve were.

“Ask your boss.” She deadpanned. “She’s trying to get into my home security.”

_“Foundry or--”_

“No. Home.” Felicity corrected and stood. She opened up her security panel to rewire it. “Ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” Steve asked.

Bucky glared at both of the blondes. “Ten minutes until her failsafes aren’t safe, right?”

Felicity shot him a nod and crossed the room to grab a pistol from under the coffee table. “Can you call off your dogs?”

 _“They aren’t my dogs,”_ Lyla huffed, the sound of typing coming through over the phone as she furiously tried to figure out what was going on. _“The only op on the books right now is that chase of a Hydra assassin, the Winter Soldier, but we don’t even have a positive ID.”_

“You do now, he’s with me. Waller probably caught us on security and planted a bug on me last night. I _hate_ \--”

 _“I’ll get the team.”_ Lyla cut her off.

“Get Barry. If she’s gonna distrust powered people, I’m gonna have powered people going up against her.” Felicity practically growled and hung up. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed her tablet. “We’re going down to the basement, come on.”

“Hiding?” Bucky raised his eyebrows.

Felicity turned and looked him in the eyes, an iron in her gaze that Bucky had never seen. “Considering the fact that they’re after you, yes we are. You are legal grey area a mile long and Pops here is more than willing to go to war with the United States government instead of having normal adult conversations. Also, if I’m here when Amanda fucking Waller breaks down my door, I’ll kill her.”

Steve and Bucky shared another look before shrugging and following Felicity. “You want me to call Tony?”

“No, we’ll handle this.” Felicity opened the hidden door to the basement and flipped the switch for the lights to come on, showing what was basically half work out room and half lab with a pile of spare computer equipment in the corner. The way Steve moved through the room told Bucky that this lab was much the same as Tony’s, but Bucky had already suspected.

“Is this whole spy thing the reason you had Nat and Clint help you when you designed this place?” Steve raised his eyebrows at his daughter, unsure how to process this.

Felicity shrugged, “Coulson approved.”

“Are you working with SHIELD?” Steve’s eyes widened.

“Eh, a little. Not really.” She evaded.

“No wonder Waller is trying to tear down your front door, you’re a fucking spy. My daughter, the spy. I oughta give Phil a piece of my mind, recruiting you, what the hell was he--”

“Steve, she’s more than old enough to make her own decisions,” Bucky rolled his eyes.

Felicity shot him a grateful look, “And I sought out Director Coulson, not the other way around.”

“Is there anything else I should know?” Steve threw his arms out in exasperation.

Felicity tilted her head to the side to think. “Well, uh...rooming with the Winter Soldier, working with vigilantes, hating ARGUS, doing favors for SHIELD--oh! I’m also Bucky’s handler as far as Director Coulson’s concerned, and I’m making Dad an Iron Man phone case and Smoak Solutions smart phone for his birthday with built in glitches to see how far the Tinkering Accords of 2007 will last.”

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and put one hand on his hip as he looked down at the ground, searching for any last semblance of sanity and hope. Bucky snorted and mouthed ‘karma’ at him.

Steve resisted the urge to tell him to fuck off.

Felicity continued to fiddle with the security panel and hooked it up to her tablet. “Alright, I’ve got the cameras so we can keep an eye on them.” She showed Bucky her tablet and pointed at the screen, “See that van down the street? That’s them.”

“Do you have any intel on their team?” Steve asked.

“Waller’s here with...it looks like Lonnie Machin? I thought he was in Arkham.” Felicity frowned and narrowed her eyes, “Two human agents, I’m running facial recognition now, but they seem to be run of the mill JBT.”

“JBT?” Bucky asked Steve.

“Jack booted thugs.”

Felicity ignored them, “And...Steve Trevor? Fuck.”

“What’s wrong with Steve Trevor?” Her father asked.

“He’s good. He’s not just an amazing spy, but he’s a good guy, which means that Waller’s lying to them about where they are and who they’re after.” Felicity cursed under her breath. “There’s no way Lonnie would turn against me, either, not knowingly. He owes me one.”

Bucky caught the look on her face and prayed for patience, “Tell me that you’re not about to do what I think you’re about to do.”

Felicity raised an eyebrow at him, “They won’t hurt me. I’m a private citizen, and their friend.”

Bucky growled quietly, but stepped back over to Steve. “You have ten minutes after they get through before we come out and get you.”

They all shared a heavy look. Felicity nodded and slipped out of the basement, her footfalls quiet enough that it took the super soldiers’ enhanced hearing to even be able to hear it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean...the question is how long exactly am I capable of procrastinating this shit?

**Author's Note:**

> Go follow me on social media:
> 
> [see wally_birb for pretty pictures](http://www.instagram.com/wally_birb/)
> 
> [see alpha-whale for snark in spades](http://www.alpha-whale.tumblr.com)


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